A lot of evil is done because people "genuinely believe" this or that or the other thing.
"We know he stole those horses, so let's string him up now."
The judge in the Crowe case threw out the confession and found the three kids involved not guilty for lack of factual evidence, which was a rare thing.
I watched some vids of both the interrogation and a later interview (after the kids were released) with the Officer involved in the interrogation. I could not watch all of the interrogation... if there are two things I can't stand, they are abuse of kids and unfairness in general.
The Officer involved was so smilingly self-righteous in justifying his use of the Reid Technique that it was disgusting. I am by no means "anti cop," but I was getting pretty mad at this guy, watching the interview. It was as if he were a predator going after the weakest member of the herd.
Some States require the videotaping of these interrogation sessions. Don't know offhand if this is a result of the Crowe case or not.
Yes, Virginia, there are such things as extorted confessions.
I "genuinely believe" that.