Experts examine Lake County's 'epidemic' of false confessions

Experts examine Lake County's 'epidemic' of false confessions


Juan Rivera, exonerated after 19 years in prison, among speakers at event

By Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune reporter
11:05 PM CDT, April 15, 2012

Juan Rivera, exonerated through DNA in the 1992 rape and murder of an 11-year-old Waukegan girl, returned to Lake County on Sunday for the first time since he was released from prison in January to join a panel discussion on false confessions.

"I am very angry. I am very disappointed that I lost half my life," said Rivera, 39, who added that he wrestles with his emotions, feeling that he should be at peace after 19 years in prison.

"This is a struggle that I go through every day. I don't sleep well. I don't trust anyone," said Rivera, speaking at Lake Forest College.

About 75 people attended the event, which also featured panelists Rob Warden, executive director of Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions, and Jed Stone, a longtime criminal defense lawyer in Waukegan.

Stone challenged prosecutors and judges to stop ignoring an "epidemic" of false confessions that result in wrongful convictions. He suggested the problem could be partially resolved if officials videotaped all interrogations and made sure that detectives who interview a suspect have no prior knowledge of the case.

He also called for prosecutors to stop relying on police that they know to be dishonest as witnesses, saying he could name five in Lake County.

"I know who is a truth-teller, and I know who I wouldn't buy a car from — and so do the prosecutors," Stone said.

The public generally has a hard time understanding why someone would admit to a crime they did not commit, said Warden, who suggested that police interrogations be limited to four hours per session.

"Our research shows that truthful confessions tend to come relatively quickly," he said. Rivera, for instance, was interrogated off and on for more than 23 hours during one session.

False confessions are usually the result of brainwashing, wearing people down or physical abuse, Warden said.

Rivera's case, he said, was probably an example of when "people are simply worn down to the point they will say absolutely anything to stop the interrogation, thinking: 'If I can just sleep, I'll clear this up tomorrow.'"

"It happens everywhere," Warden said. "It happens nationally. We really need to start taking this phenomenon seriously."

Both candidates for the state's attorney's job, Democrat Chris Kennedy and Republican Michael Nerheim, attended the panel, as did friends and family of people involved in other high-profile cases in Lake County.

During a question-and-answer session, Paul Calusinski stood up and spoke in defense of his daughter, Melissa Calusinski, recently sentenced to 31 years for killing a toddler at a Lincolnshire day center.

Another man handed out fliers advertising a "10,000 Man March Against Injustice" planned for Saturday in North Chicago that stems from the death of Darrin Hanna, 45, who died in November after a violent encounter with police.


Officers tackled, punched and used a Taser on Hanna while trying to subdue him after reports that he was beating a pregnant woman. A Lake County coroner's autopsy blamed his death on chronic cocaine use and sickle cell disease, along with police restraint and trauma.

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-false-confession-panel-20120416,0,5037177.story

Editor's note: The Lake County Coroner's Office is notorious for providing inaccurate data.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com