POLYGRAPHY AND COERCED-COMPLIANT FALSE CONFESSION - SERVICEMAN-E REDEVIVUS

In a case of a coerced-compliant false confession, an American orthodo ntic technician of Mexican heritage was accused of sexually molesting an adolescent patient. After being made to swear an oath to Our Lady o f Guadalupe, a pivotal religious figure of central Mexico, and 'failin g' two polygraph tests, he confessed to the charge. The court held the confession to be voluntary and therefore admissible, but after three hours of deliberation, the jury exonerated the man, finding the confes sion to have been coerced-compliant. The author compares and contrasts this case with that of an American serviceman tried in a military cou rt. The relationship between coerced confessions, polygraphy and cultu re is discussed. A call for greater attention to the ethics of the jud icial process is made.