exoneration

Exoneration: Case of Robert Davis
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Institutional Affiliations
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Case Summary
On February 19, 2003, a crime that involved a first-degree murder of Annette Charles and a second-degree murder of William happened in Virginia. After interrogation by the police around the neighborhood, William Fugget confessed that he has been involved in the murder, implicating Jessica his sister, and Robert Davis who was some few blocks away from Fugget’s home. Later, police interrogated Jessica who similarly confessed to being involved in the crime, implicating her brother William and Robert Davis as accomplices. Davis was later interrogated by the police on his involvement in the crime. Initially, Davis denied being involved in the crime. However, after five and a half hours of the sleepless night, cold, and fear, Davis agreed to have been involved in the crime. On April 19, 2004, Davis was sentenced to 23 years in prison. However, in 2006, William Fugget wrote a letter that indicated that Davis was not involved in the crime whatsoever. A similar confession was received from Jessica who indicated that she was wrong to have involved Davis in the crime. After a careful consideration of the petition provided by Davis Lawyer, McAuliffe considered this plea, releasing Davis from prison on December 15, 2015.
Case Analysis
Davis, who was 18 years and mentally handicapped was in a higher position to give a false confession. As indicated in the case, police had forced him to remain awake from 1.00 a.

m. to 6.00 a.m. After five hours of lost sleep, cold, being tired, and scared, Davis was left with nothing but to admit that he had participated in the murder of Annette Charles and William. While intuition holds that any innocent person cannot make a false confession, Davis’ scenario could have been compelled by his mental condition.
In his internalization, Davis felt tired and confused by the interrogation, further, as a way of accommodating the disagreement. Psychologically, mentally handicapped people have learned through experience that their standpoint is wrong and agreeing to the opinion or standpoint of others is a way to survive. Further, Davis’ excessive desire to please an authoritative figure such as the police would have easily compelled him to confess. Arguably, it’s like asking a baby to admit he did wrong when a candy is to be given as the reward. Putting all these factors together, Davis was highly susceptible to making a false confession.

References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Robert Davis: Other Virginia Plea Cases. (n.d.). Retrieved from The National Registry of Exonerations: http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5058