Abstract
Persons with mental retardation are encountering the criminal justice system in increasing numbers. Persons with mental retardation who become suspects in criminal cases must deal with issues of competence to waive their right to remain silent upon police questioning, as well as the admissibility of any confession that is made as a result of that questioning. Unfortunately, we have begun to learn that confessions are frequently entered by persons with mental retardation in police interrogations without full understanding of their rights (Atchison & Keyes, 1996). In addition, because of the particular characteristics of those with mental retardation, statements that they may make must also be evaluated closely for reliability, even if their admissibility satisfies legal standards.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Bar Association (1989). Criminal justice mental health standards. Chicago, IL: American Bar Association.
Atchison, M., and Keyes, D. (1996). Why Johnny Lee Wilson went to prison. In D. S. Connery (Ed.), Convicting the innocent (pp. 118–126 ). Cambridge, MA: Brookline.
Baroff, G. S., and Freedman, S. C. (1988, April). Mental retardation and Miranda. The Champion, 6–9.
Baroff, G. S., and 011ey, J. G. (1999). Mental retardation: Nature, causes, and management. Philadelphia: Brunner/Mazel.
Bybee, G. S., and Zigler, E. (1992). Is outer directedness employed in a harmful or beneficial manner by students with and without mental retardation? American Journal of Mental Retardation 96512–521.
Clare, I., and Gudjonnson, G. (1993). Interrogative suggestibility, confabulation, and acquiescence in people with mild learning disabilities (mental handicap): Implications for reliability during police interrogations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 32, 295–301.
Clare, I., Gudjonnson, G., Rutter, S. and Cross, P. (1994). The inter-rater reliability of the Gudjonnson Suggestibility Scale (Form 2). British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33, 357–365.
Cloud, M., Shepherd, G. B., Barkoff, A., N., and Shur, J. V. (2002). Words without meaning: The Constitution, confessions, and mentally retarded suspects. University of Chicago Law Review69,495–624.
Connelly v. Colorado, 479 U.S. 157 (1986).
Drew, C. J., and Hardman, M. L. (2000). Mental retardation: A life cycle approach ( 7th ed. ). Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall.
Dunn, L. M., and Dunn, L. M. (1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (PPVT-III). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Ellis, J., and Luckasson, R., A. (1985). Mentally retarded criminal defendants. George Washington Law Review53,414–493.
Everington, C., DeBerge, K., and Mauer, D. (2000). The relationship between language skills and competence to stand trial abilities in persons with mental retardation. The Journal of Psychiatry and Law28, 475–492.
Everington, C., and Fulero, S. (1999). Competence to confess: Measuring understanding and suggestibility of defendants with mental retardation. Mental Retardation, 37, 212–220.
Everington, C., and Keyes, D. W. (1999). Diagnosing mental retardation in criminal proceedings: The critical importance of documenting adaptive behavior. The Forensic Examiner, 31–34.
Everington, C., and Luckasson, R. (1989). Addressing the needs of the criminal defendant with mental retardation: The special educator as a resource to the criminal justice system. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 193–200.
Feinstein, C. S., Everington, C., Derning, T., and Keyes, D. (2003). Individuals with mental retardation: A guide for psychologists. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University.
Finlay, W., and Lyons, E., (2002). Acquiescence in interviews with people who have mental retardation. Mental Retardation,40,14–29.
Frumkin, B. (2000). Competency to waive Miranda rights: Clinical and legal issues. Mental and Physical Disability Law Reporter24, 326–331.
Fulero, S. M., and Everington, C. (1995). Assessing competency to waive Miranda rights in defendants with mental retardation. Law and Human Behavior19, 533–543.
Greenspan, S. (2003). Perceived risk status as a key to defining mental retardation: Social and everyday vulnerability in the natural prototype. In H. N. Switzky and S. Greenspan (Eds.), What is mental retardation? Ideas for an evolving disability. Washington, DC: AAMR.
Greenspan, S., Switzky, H. J., and Granfield, J. M. (1996). Everyday intelligence and adaptive behavior: A theoretical framework. In J. W. Jacobson and J. A. Mulick (Eds.) Manual of diagnosis and professional practice in mental retardation (pp. 127–136). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Grisso, T. (1998). Instruments for assessing understanding and appreciation of Miranda rights. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.
Crisso, T. (1981). Juveniles’ waiver of rights: Legal and psychological competence. New York: Plenum Press.
Grisso, T. (1986). Evaluating competencies: Forensic assessments and
instruments. New York: Plenum Press.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (1984). A new scale of interrogative suggestibility. Personality and Individual Differences, 5, 303–314.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (1990). The relationship of intellectual skills to suggestibility, compliance, and acquiescence. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 227–231.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (1992). Interrogative suggestibility: Factor analysis of the Gudjonsson suggestibility scale (GSS2). Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 479–481.
Gudjonsson, G. H., Clare, I., and Rutter, S. (1994). Psychological characteristics of suspects interviewed at police stations: A factor-analytic study. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 5, 517–525.
Gudjonsson, G. H., and Clare, I. (1995). The relationship between confabulation and intellectual ability, memory, interrogative suggestibility and acquiescence. Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 333–338.
Gudjonsson, G. H., Rutter, S. C., and Clare, I. (1995). The relationship between suggestibility and anxiety among suspects detained at police stations. Psychological Medicine, 25, 875–878.
Hammitt D. D., Brown, V. L., Larsen, S. C., and Wiederholt, J. L. (1994). Test of Adolescent and Adult Language (TOAL-3). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
Inbau, F., Reid, J., and Buckley, J. (1986). Criminal interrogation and confessions ( 3rd ed. ). Baltimore, MD: Williams and Wilkins.
Johnson, M. (2002). Juvenile Miranda law in New Jersey, from Carlo, 1966 to JDH, 2001: Therelevance of recording all custodial questioning. Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 30, 3–57. Kassin, S. (1997). The psychology of confession evidence. American Psychologist, 52, 221–233.
Kaufman, A., and Kaufman, N. (1990). Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test. Circle Pines, MN: Amer-ican Guidance Service.
Krezewinski, L. (2002). “But I didn’t do it”: Protecting the rights of juveniles during interrogation. Third World Law Journal, 22, 355–387.
Luckasson, R., Schalock, R.L., Borthwick-Duffy, S., Bunlinx, W.I-I.E., Coulter, D.L., Craig, E.M., Reeve, A., Snell, M.E., Spitalnik, D.M., Spreat, S., and Tasse, M.J. (2002). Mental retardation: Definition, classification, and systems of supports ( 10th ed. ). Washington, DC: American Association on Mental Retardation.
McAfee, J. K. (1999). Individuals with mental retardation and the criminal justice system: A guide for law enforcement personnel. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University.
McGuire, R. E. (2002). A proposal to strengthen juvenile Miranda rights: Requiring parental presence in custodial interrogations. Vanderbilt Law Review, 53, 1355–1387.
Miller, A. (1996). Even Galileo confessed. In D. S. Connery (Ed.), Convicting the innocent (pp. 87–94 ). Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).
Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412 (1986).
ONeill, T. P. (2002). Miranda’s illusion of fairness to mentally retarded. Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, 5, 6.
Perlman, N. B., Ericson, K. I., Esses, V. M., and Issacs, B. J. (1994). The developmentally handicapped witness: Competency as a function of question format. Law and Human Behavior, 18, 171–188.
Perske, R. (1991). Unequal justice? What can happen when persons with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities encounter the criminal justice system. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Perske, R. (1994). Thoughts on the police interrogation of individuals with mental retardation. Mental Retardation, 32, 377–380.
Shaw, J. A., and Budd, E. D. (1982). Determinants of acquiescence and nay saying of mentally retarded persons. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 87, 108–110.
Sigelman, C. K., Budd, E. C., Spanel, C. L., and Schoenrock, C. J. (1981). When in doubt say yes: Acquiescence in interviews with mentally retarded persons. Mental Retardation, 19, 53–58.
Sigelman, C. K., Winer, J. L., and Schoenrock, C. J. (1982). The responsiveness of mentally retardedpersons to questions. Education and Training in Mental Retardation, 17, 120–124. Taylor, R. L. (1997). Assessment of individuals with mental retardation.
San Diego, CA: Singular. Thorndike, R., Hagen, E., and Sattler, J. (1986). Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale(4th ed.). Chicago:Riverside.
Wechsler, D. (1997). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale ( 3rd ed. ). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Wood, H. R., and White, D. L. (1992). A model for habilitation and prevention for offenders with mental retardation: The Lancaster County (PA) Office of Special Offenders Services. In R. W. Conley, R. Luckasson, and G. N. Bouthilet (Eds.), The criminal justice system and mental retardation: Defendants and victims (pp. 153–165 ). Baltimore, MD: Brooks.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fulero, S.M., Everington, C. (2004). Mental Retardation, Competency to Waive Miranda Rights, and False Confessions. In: Lassiter, G.D. (eds) Interrogations, Confessions, and Entrapment. Perspectives in Law & Psychology, vol 20. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-38598-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-38598-3_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-33151-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-38598-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive