Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
True / False
1. The right to remain silent is an ancient right.
a. True
b. False
2. Ordering a suspect to speak so that a witness may try to identify the suspect’s voice is covered by the Fifth
Amendment self–incrimination clause.
a. True
b. False
3. The right to counsel approach to confessions has never been accepted by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court.
a. True
b. False
4. According to the Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v. Arizona, custodial interrogation is inherently coercive.
a. True
b. False
5. According to the Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v. Arizona, waiver of the Miranda rights may be
presumed either by silence following warnings or from an eventual confession.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
6. The Miranda decision required police to warn suspects whenever they arrest them.
a. True
b. False
7. This rationale for due process is based on the idea that admitting unreliable evidence denies defendants the right to
their life. This is referred to as the forced confessions rationale.
a. True
b. False
8. In Colorado v. Connelly (1986), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Connelly‘s confession was voluntary even
though his serious mental illness led him to believe God ordered him to “confess or commit suicide.”
a. True
b. False
9. There are clear statistics indicating the number of false confessions per year.
a. True
b. False
10. According to confessions and interrogation expert Professor Fred Inbau, police can solve many cases only if guilty
persons confess.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
11. According to research by sociologist Richard Leo, most police interrogations were coercive.
a. True
b. False
12. One way a confession could be false is if the crime never occurred.
a. True
b. False
13. During the 30 years from Brown v. Mississippi to Miranda v. Arizona, the U.S. Supreme Court relied on
various interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause to invalidate as involuntary 40
confessions in state trials.
a. True
b. False
14. The right to counsel approach to confessions has never been accepted by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court.
a. True
b. False
15. The test for determining whether someone is in custody for purposes of Miranda is whether there was an arrest or
restraint on freedom of movement to the degree associated with a formal arrest.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
Multiple Choice
16. In screening the police procedures that are used during the accusatory stage of the criminal process, the courts
recognize:
a. the needs of law enforcement and the privacy and liberty interests of individual citizens.
b. the need to have standard procedures for investigating crimes
c. the interests of crime victims
d. the need to make an expeditious arrest
17. Based on their research of 125 proven false confessions, Richard Leo and Steven Drizen concluded:
a. that the problem of false confessions in not serious
b. most of the false confessions occurred after 2-3 hours of interrogation
c. most of the people who confessed to crimes they did not commit were found not guilty
d. the problem of false confessions may be more serious than previously thought
18. According to former Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter regarding interrogation and confessions:
a. Modern advances in the technology of crime detection make interrogation unnecessary.
b. Where innocent human witnesses cannot be found, nothing remains but interrogation to get information from
guilty persons.
c. Substantial restrictions on the ability of the police to interrogate suspects should have no effect on the ability
of police to investigate crime.
d. All empirical studies of the importance of confessions in solving crimes are untrustworthy.
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
19. What goes on during interrogation:
a. is widely known.
b. occurs in private and hence is not widely known.
c. cannot be secret because the law requires its publication.
d. police readily reveal to their superiors and to courts.
20. Research by psychologists shows that jurors may give credit to confessions obtained during high-pressure
interrogation because:
a. they believe police do not engage in high pressure interrogation
b. they believe that being charged with a crime probably means the defendant is guilty
c. of fundamental attribution error
d. they believe high pressure interrogation is the best way to get suspects to confess
21. The right to remain silent can be traced back in history to the:
a. Magna Carta.
b. laws of Moses embodied in the Talmudic law.
c. Articles of Confederation preceding the adoption of the United States Constitution.
d. Preamble of the Stamp Act.
22. The Fourteenth Amendment due process clause is applicable at which stages of the criminal process?
a. Only at arrest
b. Only after formal charges have been filed
c. Only after custodial interrogation begins
d. At all stages of the criminal process
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
23. Under the accusatorial system rationale, forced confessions violate due process, even if the confession is true,
because:
a. forced confessions should be conclusively assumed to be unreliable.
b. the confession violates the Eight Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
c. under our system the state has the burden of proving guilt.
d. a forced confession may be unreliable.
24. Which of the following is TRUE regarding the waiver of the right to remain silent?
a. Police usually continue interrogating suspects who invoke their rights to silence and/or to a lawyer.
b. Suspects overwhelmingly waive their Miranda rights to remain silent and to have a lawyer assist them.
c. Police almost never give the required Miranda warning.
d. Police frequently use “overtly coercive tactics” to get waivers.
25. The Supreme Court‘s use of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination approach in reviewing state
confession cases began with:
a. Miranda v. Arizona.
b. Escobedo v. Illinois.
c. Brown v. Mississippi.
d. Lisenba v. California.
26. According to the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, involving a man who confessed to rape following police
interrogation:
a. the Fifth Amendment protects suspects during custodial police interrogation.
b. the Sixth Amendment protects suspects from all questioning by police.
c. the Fifth Amendment only protects suspects from questioning in police stations.
d. warnings are required whenever police question citizens.
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
27. When a suspect asks for an attorney during custodial interrogation:
a. police can continue questioning while an attorney is summoned.
b. police can resume questioning after an attorney has been provided.
c. police must stop questioning until an attorney is present or the suspect initiates further conversation with
them.
d. police can never question the suspect again without an attorney being present.
28. In Berkemer v. McCarty, the case involving whether Miranda warnings must be given to stopped motorists, the
Court:
a. recognized a misdemeanor offense exception to Miranda.
b. said all motorists must be Mirandized when stopped.
c. said a motorist never has to be given Miranda.
d. said a routine traffic stop was not custody for purposes of Miranda.
29. The Fifth Amendment approach to confession applies:
a. after grand jury indictment.
b. after formal charges are filed against a person.
c. whenever a person is questioned by police about a crime.
d. only when the person being questioned is in custody.
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
30. In Colorado v. Connelly (1986), the Supreme Court considered the case of a mentally ill man who walked into a
police station and confessed he had murdered a young woman. The Court determined that:
a.
Connelly’s confession
was not
voluntary
because of his mental illness.
b.
Connelly’s confession
was not
voluntary
because he had limited free will.
c.
Connelly’s confession
was voluntary because it was not compelled.
d.
Connelly’s confession
is
admissible
if his
psychiatrist
testifies he was aware that he was
confessing
to the
police.
31. The Supreme Court has ruled that which test or standard applies to evaluating the meaning of interrogation
under the Fifth Amendment right guarantee against compelling individuals to be witnesses against themselves?
a. Did the police deliberately tried to elicit a response
b. Did the police directly asked the suspect a question
c. Did the police use words or actions that that they knew would be likely to elicit a response from the suspect
d. Did the police use force while questioning the suspect
32. Before formal proceedings begin, the Amendment gives police more flexibility in interrogating
suspects.
a. Sixth
b. Fifth
c. Fourteenth
d. Eighth
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
33. The constitutional basis for the law of confessions includes:
a. the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Eighth Amendment right against cruel and
unusual punishment.
b. the Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.
c. the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment right-to counsel, and the Fifth
Amendment right against self incrimination.
d. only the Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination.
34. In the 1936 Supreme Court case Brown v. Mississippi, involving the beating and torture of three black suspects
to obtain a confession. What were the findings of the Court?
a. The Supreme Court declined to review a confession case from a state court.
b. The Supreme Court relied upon the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause as well as held that forced
confession were not admissible as evidence.
c. The Supreme Court held that forced confessions were admissible as evidence.
d. The Supreme Court relied upon the Fifth Amendment self incrimination clause.
35. Which of the following conditions would NOT constitute a coercive state action but would be strongly
presumptive of forcing an involuntary confession?
a. Denying food and drink for 24 hours.
b. Conducting an interrogation in a secluded warehouse.
c. Questioning a suspect for 48 hours with no interruption.
d. Using profanity in an interrogation protocol.
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
36. This rationale for due process is based on the idea that admitting unreliable evidence denies defendants the right to
their life. This is referred to as the rationale.
a. states rights
b. reliability
c. forced confessions
d. Miranda
37. According to the accusatory system rationale:
a. forced confessions are admissible as long as no physical force is used.
b. forced confessions are admissible to impeach testimony or to attack credibility.
c. forced confessions are admissible as long as due process is not violated.
d. forced confessions violate due process even if they are true, since the government has to prove guilt beyond
a reasonable doubt.
38. Which case linked the Fifth and Sixth Amendments (self–incrimination and right to counsel)?
a. Escobedo v Illinois
b. Mapp v Ohio
c. Terry v Ohio
d. Miranda v Arizona
39. Which evidence is protected by the Fifth Amendment?
a. Weapons
b. Statements
c. Appearance in a lineup
d. Fingerprints
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
40. What type of rule did the U.S. Supreme Court apply in Miranda v. Arizona (1966)?
a. Voluntary admissibility rule
b. Custodial clarity rule
c. Interrogational relief rule
d. Bright line rule
41. The
“functional
equivalent of a question test” was developed in what Supreme Court decision?
a. Rhode Island v. Innis
b. Escobedo v. Illinois
c. Brewer v. Williams
d. Miranda v. Arizona
42. According to the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, when must the police stop an interrogation?
a. When the suspect requests an attorney AND when the suspect indicates in any manner than they wish to
remain silent.
b. When the suspect indicates doubt about the crime and the circumstances of the crime.
c. When the suspect requests to see their spouse.
d. When the suspect requests an attorney OR when the suspect indicates in any manner that they wish to
remain silent.
43. Which of the following types of police questioning are excluded from the Miranda requirements?
a. Only volunteered statements are excluded.
b. Only questioning of individuals in the fact-finding process is excluded.
c. Only questioning at the scene of a crime is excluded.
d. Questioning at the scene of a crime, volunteered statements of any kind, questioning of individuals in the fact-
finding process, and questioning that is part of an investigatory stop.
44. The “bright line rule,“ is also referred to as the rule.
a. proper
b. pro forma
c. per se
d. in forma pauperis
45. The approach was NOT an approach used by the U.S. Supreme Court in analyzing
interrogation and confession cases?
a. due process
b. right to counsel
c. self–incrimination
d. coercion
46. In Berkemer v. McCarty, the case involving whether Miranda warnings must be given to stopped motorists, the
Court found that:
a. a misdemeanor exception to Miranda would pose too many administrative problems for courts and police.
b. all stopped motorists should be given Miranda.
c. the motorist should have been Mirandized when the police officer decided that the driver was eventually
going to be arrested.
d. a misdemeanor exception to Miranda should be recognized.
47. Which of the following is NOT a type of false confession?
a. Voluntary false confession
b. Compliant false confession
c. Media-induced false confession
d. Internalized false confession
48. According to Schmerber v. California (1966), the U.S Supreme Court decided that:
a. vaginal swabs could be taken from a suspect in custody without a warrant in order to build a character–
based profile.
b. blood extraction without consent was permissible to produce a sample that could be analyzed for
evidentiary use.
c. saliva samples could be taken from a used water bottle without violating a person’s right not to be
“compelled”
to bear witness against himself.
d. DNA samples could be taken against a person’s will without violating his/her Fifth
Amendment
protections
49. Which of the following is NOT one of the reforms aimed at reducing the false confession problem?
a. Eliminate police use of false information during interrogation
b. Reduce the length of time in custody and interrogation
c. Record interrogations and confessions
d. Limiting the Miranda warning
50. To claim successfully that their Fifth Amendment right against self–incrimination was violated, defendants have to
prove three elements. Which of the following is NOT one of these three elements?
a. Compulsion
b. Abuse by law enforcement officers
c. Testimony
d. Incrimination
51. The period of criminal process when police shift from a general investigation to building a case against a particular
suspect is known as the stage.
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
52. The basic idea behind the due process approach to confessions is .
53. The notion that forced confessions violate even if they are true is the accusatorial
system rationale.
54. Interrogation that takes place after the police take suspects into custody is known as
.
.
55. Specifically saying that you give up your rights is called a(n) waiver.
56. false confessions occur when vulnerable suspects confess under highly suggestive interrogation
methods in order to end them, and come to believe they actually committed the crime.
57. The right to counsel clause is found in the Amendment.
58. The “
of a ” test defines police interrogation as any action or words
that police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect.
Chapter 08: SELF-INCRIMINATION
SELF-INCRIMINATION
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59. Forced confessions are not admissible as evidence at trial because they are not trustworthy describes the
for due process.
60. The totality of circumstances in each case has to demonstrate that before suspects talked, they knew they had
their Miranda rights and that they were giving them up in order to ‘pass’ the
test.
61. Discuss three suggested reforms aimed at reducing false confessions.
62. Identify the three provisions in the U.S. Constitution that govern police interrogations and confessions.
63. Define
“witness
against
himself,”
and give
examples
of what’s
included
and not
included
within the definition.
64. State the reasons for the bright-line rule regarding warnings to suspects adopted in Miranda v. Arizona. Identify
two circumstances that have to be present before officers are required to give the Miranda warnings. List three
types of questioning when officers do not have to give the Miranda warnings.
65. State the facts of the case and explain the significance of the U.S. Supreme Court case New York v. Quarles.