Jail confessions acceptable

Question

Why do the courts accept testimony from a fellow inmate if you admit guilt. But they don't accept testimony from the same fellow inmate that you insist you are innocent. I must add I have never been arrested and was just wondering about this.

Answer 1

Testimony that you insist you are innocent is usually not useful. It's kind of like the old joke, "We have 100 reliable witnesses who claim they saw you steal the money" and you reply, "So what? I can find 1,000 reliable witnesses who didn't."

You can insist that you are innocent on the stand in court. So having someone else testify that they heard you insist you are innocent doesn't add anything. However, you are probably unlikely to admit your guilt on the stand in court. So having someone testify that you did so does add something.

If you would like to admit your guilt on the stand in court, then you can suppress an inmate's testimony that he heard you do so. At that point, the testimony would be merely cumulative.

So it works the same both ways. You can admit testimony that contradicts what you say in court. But testimony that you said before the same thing you are saying now doesn't add anything to you saying it now.

Answer 2

Because guilty people routinely proclaim their innocence, however innocent people rarely proclaim their guilt, particularly in a situation where there is no coercion.

Answer 3

Well, because they want to hear that you are guilty.  It doesn't profit anything for the state if the inmate is proclaiming your innocence.  It is always about making evidence to convict you, not to find the truth.

Sorry, but that is how the UN-justice system works.

Answer 4

Actually, it would be inadmissible hearsay if you told someone you were innocent (and not of much evidentiary value, since the accused will often proclaim innocence to anyone who will listen).

However, if you admit guilt, admissions are admissible hearsay.

Therefore, they can (and will) offer it against you.