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A false confession is where a suspect in a crime admits their guilt to the crime, even though they are not responsible for the crime. False confessions can be induced through Coercion or by the mental incompetency of the accused. Central Park jogger In the , Kevin Richardson , Antron McCray , Raymond Santana and Kharey Wise . In 1989, the police were aware that an unidentified sixth person had left semen on the victim's body. In 2002, Matias Reyes , a convicted murderer and rapist, admitted that he was responsible for the rape and attack of the jogger. The DNA obtained from the crime scene matched Reyes. New York state justice Charles J. Tejada vacated the convictions of five defendants on December 19, 2002. Yusef Salaam served six and a half years in prison. Pizza Hut murder In 1988 Nancy DePriest was raped and murdered at the Pizza Hut she worked at in Austin, Texas . A coworker. Chris Ochoa , pled guilty to the murder. His friend, Richard Danziger , was convicted of the rape. Ochoa confessed to the murder and implicated his friend, Danziger, in the rape. It was later discovered that the confession was coerced and the guilty party was arrested. The forensic evidence that linked Danziger to the crime scene was a single pubic hair found in the restaurant that was consistent with his type of pubic hair. There was semen evidence collected, but DNA analysis was not performed. Both men received life sentences. Years later Achim Marino wrote letters while in prison claiming he was the murderer. The DNA was finally tested and matched Marino. Chris Ochoa and Richard Danziger were exonerated and released from prison in 2001 after 12 years of incarceration. Corethian Bell Cook County, Illinois prosecutors were required to videotape murder confessions, but not interrogations, starting in August of 1999. Corethian Bell who is slightly retarded, said he confessed to the murder of his mother, Netta Bell, because police hit him so hard he was knocked off his chair and because he grew tired and hopeless after being in police custody for more than 50 hours. He said he thought that if he confessed, the interrogations would stop, then he could explain himself to a judge and be set free. With a confession on tape, he was then prosecuted and sent to jail. When the DNA at the crime scene was tested it matched a man already in prison for a crime similar to Netta Bell's murder. TAPING INTERROGATIONS AND CONFESSIONS Most jurisdictions do not require a confession to be videotaped, and fewer require the taping of interrogations. INNOCENCE PROJECT The Innocence Project works to release prisoners falsely accused by reexamining evidence with newer techniques, not available at the time of the original conviction. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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