Lying about evidence. Threats of the death penalty. Intense questioning for long hours at a time. These are some of the interrogation techniques used by detectives against seasoned adult criminals. In the latest stunning episode of
Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions, hosts Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin explore a case where these brutal techniques were employed to obtain a false murder confession from a frightened 12-year-old boy.
The situation that played out in Camden, Arkansas, on August 7th, 2006 was nightmarish enough without the devastating criminal justice drama that was to follow. That morning, 11-year-old Kaylee Cogdell was found dead in her bed, her hands bound and two plastic bags over her head. Her body was discovered by her mother, Melody Jones, and Thomas, her 12-year-old brother. With no sign of forced entry, the primary suspects were Melody and Thomas.
Because Thomas admitted to being awake at Kaylee’s presumed time of death, detectives’ attention turned to him almost immediately. Left alone to fend for himself against the police officers, interrogation tapes reveal 12-year-old Thomas, a polite honor-roll student, vehemently denying killing his sister during a brutal hours-long police interrogation that reduces him to something close to a mental breakdown…and then the cameras are turned off.
During the unrecorded “break,” police claimed that while Thomas was eating a hamburger, he spontaneously confessed to murdering his sister. This confession led to his conviction…and a battle that public defender Dorcy Corbin, with the support of Nirider and Drizin, would take all the way to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
The case of Thomas Cogdell raises questions not only about the kinds of tactics regularly used to coerce confessions out of suspects, but the viciousness of deploying these techniques against minors who lack a clear understanding of basic legal matters. This episode is a continuation of
Wrongful Conviction: False Confession’s examination of twelve true stories of false confessions – from wrongfully convicted Virginia teen Robert Davis to the Dixmoor 5, otherwise known as Chicago’s “Central Park Five.”
Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is available through the same feed and platforms where fans already listen and subscribe to the
Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom series. Both series are now in a single feed named Wrongful Conviction Podcasts. You can find
Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions at
www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com. Find it on Apple Podcasts at
https://apple.co/39tz7NN.
Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions,
Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom, and an upcoming slate of Wrongful Conviction Presents podcasts are produced by Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1 and PRX.
Upcoming event: Jason Flom will be taking part in a
Wrongful Convictions with Jason Flom panel at the 92Y cultural and community center in New York City on Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m. Soon to be releasing its 10th Season, Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a podcast about tragedy, triumph, unequal justice, and actual innocence. Flom features interviews with men and women who have spent years in prison for crimes they did not commit—some of them having even been sentenced to death.
Exoneree Noura Jackson and additional special guests join Flom as they unravel their own wrongful convictions among many others. Moderated by Emily Bazelon, author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration, Flom, Jackson, and additional special guests discuss the current state of the criminal justice system, what needs to change, and what you can do to help. For more information or to purchase tickets,
click here.
For Media Inquiries:
Dawn Kamerling
The Press House
dawn@thepresshouse.com
646. 322. 4903
