{"id":15800,"date":"2023-10-20T14:32:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T19:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwoodlegal.com\/?p=15800"},"modified":"2024-10-14T10:56:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T15:56:14","slug":"cognitive-biases-and-wrongful-convictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwoodlegal.com\/cognitive-biases-and-wrongful-convictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do police become obsessed with the wrong suspect?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Norwood.Law client Corey Atchison of Tulsa spent 28 years in prison before a judge said he didn\u2019t commit murder.<\/em><\/p>

By G.W. Schulz<\/p>

Investigators from the Tulsa Police Department wasted little time in 1990 before forming a theory that Norwood.Law client Corey Dion Atchison had committed murder. Once their sights were set, police and prosecutors embarked on a relentless campaign to take Atchison down even though witnesses had described someone else \u2013 a lifelong criminal \u2013 as the killer.<\/span><\/p>

Atchison endured 28 grueling years in Oklahoma\u2019s prison system <\/span>before Norwood.Law helped get him freed<\/span><\/a> in 2019. That year, a district judge in Tulsa finally reviewed the facts. She declared not only that Atchison\u2019s trial was unfair but that he was \u201cactually innocent\u201d of shooting James Warren Lane to death on a darkened street in Tulsa\u2019s Kendall-Whittier neighborhood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

When wrongfully convicted people are discovered to be innocent and set free after years or decades in prison, the public is often left wondering how it happened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Don\u2019t police need evidence of probable cause to make an arrest? Don\u2019t prosecutors have a burden of proof to show that someone is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Why didn\u2019t the jury stop it? The truth is that justice in America\u2019s courtrooms is <\/span>far different than how it appears on TV<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This chasm between public perception and reality is vast. In popular culture, police seem to always nab the right suspect. Evidence is obtained and analyzed with ease. Witnesses recall events with perfect clarity. Judges and juries rigorously review the facts and observe strict impartiality. Rarely are there nagging questions about alternate suspects, bogus leads from tipsters seeking rewards or fame, or deceitful informants hoping for leniency in their own cases.<\/span><\/p>

The truth is that everyone possesses psychological or cognitive biases that have sizable effects on how we form judgments. And these biases are partly to blame for the nearly 3,400 exonerations recorded by the <\/span>National Registry of Exonerations<\/span><\/a> since 1989 in which the wrong people were accused of crimes or there was serious doubt about their guilt. In one case after another, detectives and prosecutors have stolen years or decades away from people who were innocent or at least were not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This happened as true perpetrators got away without consequences.<\/span><\/p>

Criminologists <\/span>Kim Rossmo<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Joycelyn Pollock<\/span><\/a> of Texas State University wanted to find out why it happened so often when there seemed to be so many safeguards in place to prevent it. After closely studying 50 cases, they uncovered two major contributing factors: \u201ctunnel vision\u201d and \u201cconfirmation bias.\u201d Their <\/span>findings were published in a paper<\/span><\/a> the same month that Atchison was set free.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Read on below for more about what Rossmo and Pollock discovered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Are you mired in a legal dispute with the government, a business, or an individual? You\u2019ll need relentless advocates to tell your side of the story. It\u2019s not just criminal law we practice. If you find yourself caught in a personal injury, business, or family dispute, Norwood.Law will bring the same commitment and skill to your corner that we did to the case of Corey Atchison. When the day comes that you need our help, contact Norwood.Law for a consultation at 918-582-6464.<\/span><\/p>

A vast spectrum<\/b><\/h2>

When \u201ctunnel vision\u201d occurs, police form a specific theory at the outset of an investigation and reject alternatives. Investigators develop an unshakable conviction that one suspect is guilty over another even if the evidence is pointing in a different direction. This leads to an unconscious filtering of information and is what happened to Corey Atchison. As more emotion, time, and money is sunk into a particular theory, authorities become evermore unwilling to consider alternate conclusions, Rossmo and Pollock write.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cConfirmation bias,\u201d then, is a form of selective thinking that manifests as the investigation unfolds. Police narrowly seek out and interpret evidence to fit their theory. Not just investigators but all human beings experience confirmation bias and feel compelled to validate rather than refute a given hypothesis once it is formed. We selectively hunt for clues, interpret information in a way that supports our views, and wave off or ignore evidence that contradicts what we already believe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Tunnel vision and confirmation bias affect criminal prosecutors, too. They may be facing a hotly contested election or have dreams of running for higher office. They want to be seen as a team player with police. If enough probable cause exists to make an arrest, then prosecutors simply assume the defendant is guilty. Write Rossmo and Pollock: \u201cProsecutors are invested in the belief that the defendant is guilty, because it is inherent in their professional duty to do so. \u2026 Once a decision to prosecute has been made, their training prepares them to consider contrary evidence only for the purpose of responding to and attacking such evidence.\u201d Prosecutors become close to victims and families just like the police. And they\u2019re trained to present cases in a way that ensures convictions:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cMedia frenzy, ambition, ego, and office pressures for convictions can combine with cognitive bias and create the potential for a wrongful conviction. The idea of a \u2018conviction psychology\u2019 in a prosecutor\u2019s office is the pervasive sense that all defendants are guilty, where racking up convictions is akin to \u2018wins\u2019 for a sports team. Only winning prosecutors will be successful in most prosecutors\u2019 offices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

\"one<\/p>

In addition to detectives gravitating toward evidence that supports an existing theory, they might also turn away from evidence that disputes it. Take the case of Norwood.Law client Glynn Simmons <\/span>who spent 48 years in Oklahoma\u2019s prison system<\/span><\/a> until being released when his murder conviction was vacated and case dismissed in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

According to the available police reports, detectives made no apparent effort to check out the alibi Simmons gave them in the early stages of the investigation. In fact, 14 people ultimately testified or signed sworn affidavits that Simmons was in his hometown of Harvey, Louisiana, when a robbery and murder took place at an Edmond, Oklahoma, liquor store in 1974.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

It was only later in 1975 while the investigation was underway that Simmons moved to Oklahoma City for a job. Authorities had <\/span>no physical evidence to speak of in the case<\/span><\/a> \u2013 no fingerprints, no DNA, no gun, and no surveillance footage. They relied instead on a single eyewitness who was shot in the head and by her own admission had glimpsed at the perpetrators for just a few seconds.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

When witnesses recant<\/b><\/h2>

In the case of Corey Atchison, Tulsa police quickly targeted him after a young man was murdered in the summer of 1990. In fact, the police pursuit of Atchison started the night of the killing. Atchison and three friends turned the corner in Atchison\u2019s car just as James Lane was shot to death in a suspected armed robbery and a group of males ran from the scene. Atchison, the oldest of the friends, yelled for someone to call 911.<\/span><\/p>

The friends then waited for two hours with a gathered crowd before deciding to leave. Police thought they might have something to do with the shooting and searched them. They found nothing.<\/span> Days later, <\/span>a tipster who said she saw the shooting<\/span><\/a> gave the name of a man to police. Two more tipsters gave descriptions that matched the man. This man would go on to twice serve 10 years in prison for armed robbery.<\/span><\/p>

Yet authorities narrowed their focus to Atchison. By the time of the trial, two witnesses had \u201cconfessed\u201d to police during interrogations that they saw Atchison carry out the shooting. In court, however, they both dramatically recanted their statements and said they were coerced by police. A third witness still maintained that Atchison did it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But 26 years later, the third witness, too, recanted and said that he was also coerced. All three \u201cwitnesses\u201d were teenagers at the time of the trial. With no physical evidence in the case \u2013 no fingerprints, no security footage, no gun \u2013 the case against Atchison collapsed. A district judge in Tulsa declared that not only was Atchison\u2019s trial unfair, he was \u201cactually innocent\u201d of the crime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Dangerously narrow-minded thinking by police in such cases can infect not just individuals but also groups in the form of \u201cgroupthink.\u201d The Tulsa County prosecutor shared in the confirmation bias exhibited in Atchison\u2019s case. According to Rossmo and Pollock:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cCritical thinking requires effort. An entrenched position, even an untenable one, can persist through psychological lethargy and organizational momentum. \u2026 Groupthink exacerbates tunnel vision and confirmation bias. \u2026 It occurs in highly cohesive groups under pressure to make important decisions. \u2026 Members selectively gather information, do not seek expert opinions, and fail to critically assess their ideas. \u2026 Groupthink can be disastrous in a major crime investigation as it distorts evidence evaluation.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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