When a lying cop interrogator tells you they have all this evidence against you, take a moment to ponder why they haven't charged you yet if that's true

Never, ever talk to the police without a lawyer. Ever. Don’t sign anything. Invoke your right to a lawyer and stay silent.

This episode legit saved me. I was asked to go in for questioning of a crime I wasn’t apart of, and I was told, “it would look really bad on your part if you don’t come in. We’re just trying to help you out.” So I said, “I’m not saying anything at the advice of my lawyer, and only speaking to you if she’s there.” The police left me alone after that, and didn’t want to talk to me.

Saw this posted on Quora one time: "If you’re guilty, don’t talk to law enforcement. Get a lawyer. If you're innocent, REALLY don’t talk to law enforcement. Get a lawyer".

I'm starting to think that the problem isn't a few bad apples in the police. But that the apples are exactly the apples the farmer wanted.

Anytime a confession is used as evidence the jury should be required to view the interrogation in full.

As someone with a BA in Communications one of the MOST BASIC things in nonverbal comm I learned at Uni was that people are very very bad at "reading" nonverbal cues, many are not universal even within a given culture, and there is no way to actually know if someone is lying or telling the truth by where they look or don't look... this was taught to us literally the first week of an intro class. The justice system is so rotten to the core.

It’s ridiculous that the cops can legally gaslight you into believing you are a murderer

But John, if we don't get false confessions, how can the Prison Industrial Complex function without members?

Every false confession means the guilty person got away

As an autistic person, the reliance on body language analysis really concerns me. If I were interrogated, or anyone else with learning disabilities, anxiety or similar conditions, our body language could be strange and unnatural and foreign to the interrogator, and make us look suspicious

I remember learning at a very young age that police lie to you. I used to get profiled quite a lot. They aren’t there to be your friend or help you, nor do they even properly understand your rights. If confronted by police follow these steps: 1: Pull out your phone or camera and begin recording (under the 1st amendment you are completely within your rights to record any public official during the course of their duty, if you’re in public. Which includes publicly funded areas of government buildings and facilities.) 2: Ask what their name and badge number is, they should be obligated under policy to verbally identify. If they refuse, ask for a supervisor. They are also obligated under policy to provide one. On the off chance they refuse this as well, evoke your 5th amendment right to remain silent. Speak only when necessary and never answer any of their questions. 3: Ask if you are being detained. They should respond with a yes or no. If no, you are free to leave or stay. To freely move about as you please. If yes, say it is an unlawful detainment and ask for their RAS (reasonable articulable suspicion) that a crime has been, is being or will be committed. If they cannot articulate, then they have no justification and will be violating your constitutional rights. Most will argue you are being “suspicious”, however the Supreme Court has ruled suspicion is not a crime in and of itself and cannot be used to detain or arrest someone. The best way to protect yourself is by knowing your rights and recording, hold your public servants accountable for their actions. Flex those rights

If you lie to a cop, you go to jail. If a cop lies to you, they get rewarded with honors and a pension.

The #1 advice EVERY laywer will tell you is SHUT THE HELL UP, literally don't say a thing no matter how innocent you are.

My son was arrested at 13. As soon as I heard about it from his brother, I rushed right down there about 6 or 7 blocks away. I told the cop I do NOT want my son asked ANY questions without a lawer or myself in the room. They told him "As soon as you tell us what we want to hear you can call your dad." They had him confess to armed robbery. When I went to court and met the public defender ( public pretender) I told her what happened and I said he was a minor and no one should have talked to him without me present. I said the confession needs to be thrown out he was under age. I was in the lobby and he asked for his father many times. How is any of that legal she said to me. " It's a gray area." Then she said with him confessing the best I can do is a plea bargain. He had to do a few nights in juvenile hall (kid jail) and 3 years probation. He also learned a distrust of copsand a disgust for the judicial system. THE PUBLIC DEFENDER WORKSBFOR THE COURT NOT YOU. He is in his mid twenty now, and it still makes my blood boil every time I think about it. 🤬😡🤬😡🤬😡🤬 🖕 the court system 🖕 the cops 🖕 the prosecutor They don't want the truth they just want a win so they can get a promotion and a raise regardless of who's lide they have to destroy. You go to a cell they go home.

I'm handicapped, and I was arrested a few years ago for something that was physically impossible. Was interrogated by some of the dumbest people I've met. One of the most weird experience of my life.

According to the "Reid Technique", every Autistic person, and everyone with an Anxiety disorder is guilty as hell of what ever crime they're being accused of. Truly a no win situation for anyone that doesn't fit this extremely narrow definition of normal. This needs to change.

Anyone who psychologically tortures someone into 13 years of wrongful imprisonment deserves double that sentence for themselves

When I was in first grade my teacher pressured me into a false confession that I had pulled my pants down in front of the boys. At this time I was a regular victim for bullies who did what they could to make my school life harder. My teacher said that she had a 'lie detector', and even then, I was plagued with the thought that lie detectors might break. It took a year before I told my PARENTS the truth. Pressure led to me lying to my own loving support systems because the structures of the school would not accept my word. I am 21, and I still have a remaining guilt complex that leads me to always be slightly worried that I committed crimes I most certainly did not.

My father was a corrections officer after being a sheriff. He would draw weird conclusions about my friends or people we saw, like the time he was convinced my friend's friend was looking for things to steal because of the way his eyes moved. Apparently looking around makes you a thief... 🙄I knew the stuff he said was ridiculous and just rolled my eyes at him. He had to take a criminal justice refresher course when I was in high school, and I looked through his textbook one day. There was a lot about body language and behaviors, and what they meant. It scared the hell out of me. Many of the behaviors mentioned as signs of guilt or danger were common behaviors for (an innocent) person with autism, ADHD, etc... aka ME! Like not making eye contact. And I could come up with five or ten reasons, other than guilt or bad intentions, why even a non-disabled person would demonstrate many of these behaviors. While working on my psychology degree, I found even more reasons for those behaviors, and also a lack of evidence suggesting they meant what the criminal justice textbook claimed. And that's when it really sunk in. If I ever ended up in an interrogation room with a police officer who was taught and believed the stuff in those textbooks, I was screwed. They could get me to confess. (I know, because a similar situation happened to me in middle school, just not with the police). The only things protecting me in that situation is the fact that I'm white and from a middle-class background (..and maybe if the cops knew my dad). And then I felt absolute rage because I knew there were people who didn't even have those protections; people who were even more screwed that me. And it's all because some a**hole decided who we are is a sign of guilt.

"innocent people can wind up confessing just to escape the stress of that situation" also describes torture

"no one thinks they'd confess to something they didn't do" Yeah. That's why people used to confess to riding broomsticks and knocking boots with Satan. Because there was no pressure, and it really happened.

"They haven't gotten the queen to confess to Diana's murder." Best line in the video!

This is a huge problem in Japan also. I was arrested and held for 15 days on a false accusation and the police lied to me several times. They hold you hostage there until you confess. A lot of discrimination against foreigners there. No checks and balances in place. Angering and terrifying at the same time.

This makes me so incredibly sad considering this will unfairly target emotionally damaged, mentally ill, mentally disabled, autistic, poor or traumatized people with ptsd.

It should be a law that people being interrogated have to have a lawyer present.

I was told by a senior psychologist when I was 57 that she's certain I'm autistic. This led me (among other things) to think about the number of times interactions with the police have gone badly, with them apparently drawing erroneous conclusions, based on what they think they know about human behaviour and body language. Seeming intelligent and functional really doesn't help in such situations, they just read that as you being a deceptive smartarse.

Was interrogated by the police in college reason why doesn’t matter. They took my phone and since I didn’t have a lawyer I let them search it. Officer comes back and says “with what’s on your phone I could put you in cuffs right now”. I looked him dead in the eyes and said, “Okay”. I was released 30 minutes later, they’ll literally make things up.

"I want a lawyer" is the only answer to every question they ask. Even some low level public defender is better than nothing.

Also, let's not forget that catching the wrong person also means letting the actual criminals go free in addition to ruining the life of the wrongfully convicted person!

I remember reading a comment years ago, where the person's father (who was a cop) told them that if they ever get arrested, to IMMEDIATELY request a lawyer, because the cops aren't there to prove your innocence or to respect your rights, they're just there to prove you're guilty! Only your lawyer will ensure your rights are respected, and do their best to prove you're innocence.

Hearing John Oliver say, "Holy shit, Pinkie Pie's about to fuck that dragon _up!_ " was something I never knew I needed, but now my existence is fulfilled.

"We have evidence proving it was you." means they don't need a confession, and saying so proves the opposite.

"if you have eyes, you're basically fucked." 😂 All jokes aside, I really appreciate the LWT team for bringing this to the light. These are really important issues that we need to become more aware of and make changes too. Thanks as always ❤

Recently whenever I’ve seen interrogation scenes and the detectives pull a crazy stunt to get a confession I can’t get the thought of “but what if they were using that on someone who’s actually innocent” out of my head and I can’t look at them the same

The line I remember most from Making A Murderer is : "Just because you never commit a crime, doesn't mean you won't be accused of one."

Never say a word without your lawyer present whether you're guilty, innocent, a witness, or even the victim.

R.I.P. to the Queen... we won't ever get that confession now :\

In Canada, we have the equivalent of Miranda Rights, where suspects have the right to silence and to "consult with counsel without delay". The trouble is that our Supreme Court has interpreted that to mean that once you've made your phone call to an attorney, your rights have been upheld, and the police can just keep interrogating you using the very same tactics shown in this video. We've also had plenty of convictions based on false confessions. Shameful!

Investigators who force confessions should have to go to jail for as long as the people they put there wrongly were.

Another installment of John Oliver's weekly "HOW IS THIS LEGAL?".

I rewatch this every once in awhile to just think about how unbelievably ridiculous these interrogation techniques for anyone who’s on the spectrum

If I were a lawyer, I would tell my clients: "If the police ask you anything, do not answer, call me. If they ask you your name, do not answer, call me."

Another important piece of advice: if the cops ever come to you and say, "Can you come to the station and answer some questions for us?" DON'T DO IT. They will often act chummy and assure you it will only take a few minutes. They're lying. They're actually trying to charge you but don't have enough evidence for a warrant. If you willingly go with them, they'll trap you in the station and keep you there until you confess. Instead, ask if they have a warrant and insist that you won't go without your lawyer

This happened to my nephew. He spent 9 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit in NY. My sister went through hell to get his re-trial and eventual acquittal. NY paid his settlement of $9M yet never admitted to any wrongdoing. Prosecutor investigated & found to have done nothing wrong. So much BS it was ridiculous. 😒

10 years of Pony has just rushed unbidden back into my brain. Thanks for that mental flashbang, John.

Colombo was the best TV interrogator ever and he was always a perfect gentleman.

if it’s legal for a detective to lie to you, then your only recourse is to assume that nothing they say to you is true, and therefore you have no reason to say anything at all. it just completely destroys any incentive to cooperate. what an insanely broken country

When I was 14 years old, I was arrested for my father's murder and wrongfully interrogated without any parental consent (he had died from an alcohol related injury.) I was interrogated for a few hours before my family a few states away was able to retrieve me and say to the police that it was obviously an accident, and I was finally released. I reacted strangely to the death and that was the problem. I had called 911 immediately after finding his body. But because I wasn't overwhelmed with tears when they arrived, they assumed that I was the person who killed him, even though he had fallen down a flight of stairs 12 hours earlier (and given the situation it was completely obvious that it was an accident.) By a few hours in, I was crying hysterically but they didn't relent - they assumed they were fake tears and pressed harder. Police officers in my experience are complete morons, especially after assuming guilt. My situation wasn't an exception - interrogation is generally unethical and leads to many, many inaccurate assumptions that lead to wrongful convictions.

There was a bad crime in my neighborhood in the 90’s and I was interrogated when I was 17-18 and they held me in the police station with a window for 5-6 hrs before they talked to me, then talked and asked me to sign a statement saying I did it, I said HELL NO! They brought my entire family to that window all crying saying please please just admit it they said you did it! Moms crying dads angry BRUTAL!! Then I said YOU POS!! I want a lawyer!! 10 minutes later they walked me out the front door… to my crying family and friends- said we’re watching you ! Never trusted a Badge after that!

I watch a lot of true crime, and it’s always given me a bad feeling that the police can lie in an interrogation. To me, that no longer feels like they’re after the truth, but rather, they’re after a confession.

“Hey, it ain’t ruining my life 🤗” sums up the problem with investigators and police at large so perfectly

The injustice of forcing a false confession is twofold: The flipside of an innocent person serving a years-long sentence (or being executed) is the actual guilty person going free due to a lazy investigation, and possibly going on to offend again.

There has just been a reasonably high profile case surrounding a false admission of guilt from bad interrogation practices in New Zealand, where I live, so glad to see this issue covered

I would straight up watch that show. Satire is the best way to highlight this stuff and we know that the average person would learn more from a show after work than being told stuff they don't wanna be told.

If we're talking about media representation, let's not forget how "I'd like to speak to my lawyer" is used as shorthand for guilt. It's brought out when the investigator brings up a crucial piece of evidence and the guilty person knows they can't get away with their crime.

When they say “anything you say can and and will be used against you” they mean it. Tell them I want a lawyer and don’t say anything.

"Hey, it ain't ruinin' my life" truer words have never been spoken

This is basically brute forcing a confession out of people. That's not how justice works, they just want to punish someone. That's evil.

There’s a reason why many law enforcements fought hard against recording interrogations. And in many cases interrogations where it was recorded they were found manipulated or incomplete, they were also fighting against body cams. Good and ethical law enforcement people are not afraid of being recorded, it’s the bad apples that are concerned, and those need to be called out and removed

See, I always thought confessions were pretty useless because I grew up confessing to things I didn't do to my mother, who would not believe me no matter what I said, so confessing and getting it over with was always easier. Then again my mom was a cop......

This skit is frighteningly true. We are not able to "resist" arrest & then an arrest is proof of guilt even if the charges have to be dropped, having no foundation. The burden of proof falls on proving innocence, rather than innocent until one is proven guilty. Being caught up in the system in something the most upstanding person has to avoid like the plague. It's mind blowing that the machine is much more powerful than any human rights. The very things we sought to protect.

In other interpersonal relationships, we call what the police do in interrogations "gaslighting", and it's a severe form of emotional abuse.

When interrogated in the USA, there is only one word you need to know: "lawyer." Just respond "lawyer" no matter what they say or do. Especially if you’re innocent.

Great work,and thanks again Mr Oliver!

So, we haven’t changed much from the 1800’s police work, we just don’t beat the person senseless anymore.

I think if a confession hinges on "You can't remember what you actually did," it almost certainly shouldn't be treated as evidence.

The part at the very end where they laugh while letting the real perpetrator go is the most chilling part about this whole episode; whenever somone is wrongfully convicted that means that a real criminal remains free to continue committing crimes and ruining lives.

polygraph expert, as a career title, to me sounds like "this person is good at lying to themselves" since those machines are wildly inaccurate at lie detection also, this kinda reminds me of that experiment when researchers tested if police officers were more accurate than college students without law enforcement training at reading body language for lie detection, and it turned out the college students performed better because the police officers who participated were overconfident in their evaluations

In my country two brothers were tortured until they confessed to the murder of a man who went missing. Almost 30 years later that man showed up alive in the town and only then the brothers were declared innocent. One of them had already passed away at the time...

When I was younger I admitted to a crime I did not commit in an interview room just to get out of the process. We took a plea deal because I was basically too broke to afford my lawyer through trial and too stupid to really understand what was happening. My record of a crime I did not commit has followed me around, although it’s a misdemeanor theft, and does not show up any longer. But, when I tell this story to friends and family, I feel like they doubt me. I have a guilty complex, and I am forever worried it will come back to haunt me at dumb moments in my career. I even told an employer during an interview I did it (but got the job anyway).

That part about "avoiding eye contact" is particularly scary for anyone on the spectrum or just plain socially awkward.

When you are put into that interrogation room the only thing that should come out of your mouth is “ I need to speak to my lawyer please “ and then say nothing after that.

I just got done watching a video about Skyler Richardson. Her false confession was heart breaking. It was so hard to watch and I'm still struggling with it the next day. Absolutely horrific.

I like that John asks, “What can we do?” It’s not just bad news; it’s enlightenment and activation. As long as we act

It's hilarious and a little disturbing to see how accurate that scene in My Little Pony was. Moral lesson. Always ask for a lawyer. Especially if you are innocent.

God Bless You Brother! This was a Masterpiece! 🙏✝️👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Heavy stuff. So great to have random “One Tree Hill” 20 second clip as an aside. From the mind of John Oliver & team.

The best part about the One Tree Hill clip is that we can clearly see the actors asking themselves how much they really want that paycheck.

If you remember one thing from this episode, it is that you NEVER EVER waive your Miranda rights. NEVER EVER. All of John Oliver's suggestions for improving this situation should immediately be enacted. And police dramas need to cut the bullshit. But above all else, you must always protect yourself by invoking your Miranda rights. You have a Constitutional right to them.

John Oliver (Organ & Body Donations) brought me here

that little skit about two interrogators coming this fall has the guy who plays Caleb the Cannibal in Brooklyn 99. So a Master interrogator and a Cannibal.

In New Zealand, they tape whole interrogations and the camera is placed between the interrogator and the suspect, so that viewers of the tape have equal amount of observations on them. It is known that jury's impressions change depending on whose face (interrogator or suspect) they see. Hence, the camera is in between.

That's what happens when you base their success by convictions, and not whether or not justice was done. The very fact that they like to dissuade you from getting a lawyer, and imply that 'only guilty people need a lawyer', tells you that they have zero interest in finding the truth, and hence, the actual guilty party... they're just interested in nailing YOU for it, so they can stop looking.

That end bit was hilarious with a giant wallop of terrifying. Like a psychological horror movie trying it's absolute best to convince it's not a horror movie.

I am so glad my base concerns are addressed in a show like this, it would be great if they did a state of the modern world segment

Here’s why people brought in as “just a witness” don’t ask for an attorney: The person is thanked profusely and praised for coming in and “helping” with the case. They start off giving you positive reinforcement over and over. If you start to suspect that you are their target and ask for an attorney, they say that they aren’t accusing you of anything, so why on earth would you need a lawyer? And you can’t be wishy-washy when you request a lawyer. Don’t ask “Do I need an attorney?” Don’t say: “I think I might need to talk to a lawyer.” Say plainly: “I want a lawyer. I’m not answering anymore questions without an attorney.” Then SHUT UP. No matter what they say, either don’t respond, ask if you are free to go, or restate your request for an attorney.

80% of people waive their right to have an attorney present. The other 20% who retain attorneys are immediately branded as guilty because "what are they trying to hide?" You cannot win.

The bit at the end was amazing

Pro tip: Your only words under such circumstances should be i wish to remain silent and i wish to have a lawyer present. That's it. Interrogation ends.

"the more often a person says they didn't do it, the more difficult it becomes for us to get a confession" idk why, but this just sounds like they're only looking for confession instead of the truth

The fact that you can say "I didn't do it" a million times and it will mean nothing in court. But say "I did it" once and you're likely to be found guilty 😔

I was shocked when I found out that can police can lie to us, but then when I realized it's illegal to lie to them, that's what really got me. What?

I was forced to confess to a crime I didn't commit while only 10 years old while in a Christian Foster Home. Horrific!

The idea that a cop is not just allowed but encouraged to lie about evidence is terrifying.

Interrogator: Murderer says what. Interrogatee: What? US Law: Life imprisonment without parole.

funniest part is the beginning when he said "moving on" and the "people" laughed right away😁

Love your show! Thank you!!!!! And keep up the great work in exposing this crooked system and all the crooked cops that work for it!

Words cannot describe how much I love the inclusion of that My Little Pony clip. And not only was it hilarious, that clip was perfectly relevant to this segment because the dragon ends up giving the exact false confession Pinkie Pie wanted to hear.

There are only two thing you ever say during a police interview: “am I being detained?” And “I want a lawyer.” No matter how innocuous a question might sound, it’s being asked for a reason.