Exonerations Due to False Confessions a Comparison of Race

Exonerations Due to False Confessions a Comparison of Race

Rebecca McLain

University of Denver

        Murder carries a sentence of death in some states, convicted murderers facing a death sentence have been exonerated from crimes taking place from as far back as the 1980s due to false confessions and many cases reveal racial profiling as a contributing factor. The two cases that I choose were murder cases from the late 1980s, both were sentenced to death around the same time and exoneteated around the year 2000. When making my comparison of the cases I choose to focus on race in these cases both of the gentlemen were African American around the same age.

        In the first case Robert Lee Miller JR. was a 27 year old, African American male convicted of murdering an 83 year old woman and a 90 year old woman in Oklahoma City. Both women were found raped and murdered in their homes, along with the murder charge Miller was also convicted of robbery, attempt, violent, burglary/unlawdful entry but not rape of the women. A stain believed to be semen was collected at one crime scene, at the other crime scene blood, hair and saliva samples were collected. Based on testing it was determined that the suspect was a secretor with type A blood (a secretor is a person whos blood type can be identified in other body fluids. Testing also provided an allotype, or genetic marker in the immune system, most likely linking  the African American population to the crime. It is now know that racial statistics about the distribution of certain genetic markers do not correlate to a prediction of the likelihood of the perpetrator’s race. These tests resulted in a canvas of the nieghborhood requiring African American males to provide blood samples. Miller was found to be a type A secretor, which lead police to detain and conduct a 12 hour interrogation of Miller. Only half of the interrogation was recorded. Miller was suspected of being under the influence of marijuana ciggarettes dipped in PCP, he spoke about dreams, visions, spells and hair during the interrogation. He answered questions as if he were clairvoyant and thought he was helping the police solve the crime. There were many inconsistencies in his statement and the information Miller provided came from general speculation, as well as details that were previously released in newspapers or televised crime reports. Miller also denied involvement in the crime several times during the interrogation.

        In the second case Aaaron Patterson was a 25 year old African American male convicted of stabbing an elderly couple to death in Chicago. The couple was found murdered in their home, Patterson was also convicted of robbery. Patterson was arrested after a 15 year old girl claimed that Patterson had admitted to the murders.

Detectives that were known for torturing African American suspects, obtained a confession very quickly from Patterson. Another suspect was arrested in this case, Eric Cain, he was coeherced by another police officer that told him Patterson had already confessed for the two of them. After hearing this,Cain testified that Patterson had stabbed the couple for not giving up weapons that they were there to collect, and that Cain ran when the stabbings started. Cain was beaten and then taken to see Patterson who also had been beaten, Cain then signed the confession. Patterson was given a written statement to sign then left alone chained to the wall of the interrogation room. He scratched “Police threaten me with violence.  Slapped and suffocated me with plastic.  No lawyer or dad.  Sign false statement to murders” onto the wall. The judge denied motions to suppress the confessions and both men were found guilty from separate juries.

        There are several contributing factors that lead to the convictons in both cases, the main being the confessions. Without the confessions I belive that these men would not have been convicted and a more thurough investigation would have taken place. Also racial profiling was prodominate in these cases. In the first case faulty assumptions about genetic markers lead the police to focus only on African American males.  Hair obtained at the scene was labeled with “Negroid characteristics” but was eventually thrown out and believed to be dog hair. Under the assumption that the blood was African American, the other evidence collected was also assumed to come from an African American. The last contributing factors in the first case was that Miller was under the influence of a drug and he was coerced into confessing after a 12 hour interogation. Miller was psychologically vulnerable, he was tired and confused, he thought he was claifoyant and that he was helping the police never suspecting that he could be charged with the crime.