Confessions as Proof of Innocence

Abstract

In recent years, a number of criminal cases have been reported in which defendants have sought to rely upon the confessions of their co-defendants as proof of their own innocence. The co-defendant may perhaps have admitted that he alone was responsible, or that he and some third party were responsible. His confession may have been made to the police or to some other person. In one case, the father of a girl charged with robbery covertly tape-recorded admissions made to him by one of her two co-defendants. These admissions were damning to that co-defendant, but tended to exonerate the girl.