Confessions and Accused Rights in Illinois

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Chicago criminal defense lawyer

Being taken into police custody for the alleged commission of a crime can be a harrowing experience. An individual may be isolated by themselves in a questioning room and forced to stay alone for long periods of time, and some of these accused individuals may not even know why they have been taken into custody in the first place. When it comes time for the actual police questioning, people may already feel vulnerable or intimidated due to the feeling of being trapped that sitting in police custody sometimes brings about.

In some cases, police officers use overly harsh questioning tactics during an interrogation. An interrogation occurs when a law enforcement officer questions a person about a crime. In extreme examples, these harsh tactics might include subjecting the individual being questioned to physical violence or the threat of violence, inaccurately threatening the individual’s or a loved one’s freedom or excessively withholding food or essential comforts during the questioning process.

These harsh tactics may violate accused rights, and may force people to confess to actions they didn’t do in order to get the abusive behavior to stop. An excessively coercive environment may confuse innocent or guilty people, causing them to misspeak or say things they wouldn’t otherwise have said with a clear head. In addition, police may unfairly elicit a confession from people who aren’t thinking clearly because they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the interrogation.

Remedies for Forced Confessions

In each of these cases, if an accused makes a confession in an environment that was excessively coercive, the accused may ask the court to exclude the confession as evidence in a subsequent criminal trial. The accused must show that the confession was excessively coerced, and therefore was not given voluntarily. This inquiry is highly fact specific and depends on individual circumstances of each case. In addition, it is difficult to prove whether a confession given behind closed doors was coerced. This is why some police departments now tape criminal confessions in certain instances.

Contact an Attorney for Help in Your Case

If you believe you have been coerced into making a confession that you did not give freely and voluntarily, unfortunately you cannot take the confession back. However, if you retain the services of an experienced DuPage County criminal law attorney, you may be able to prevent the confession from being used in the case against you. To find out more about coerced confessions and how they apply to individual circumstances, set up a free consultation with Kathryn L. Harry & Associates, P.C. at 630-472-9700 as soon as possible. We can advise you on your rights, and provide you with an aggressive defense in your criminal case.