User reviews

Really, you think the police should more investigate to protect people and catch guilty people but here unfortunately they try hard to push on suspected people and let them confessions so the sentences based on only suspected confessions not on evidence or DNA and that shameful on justice. However, if the policemen have stopped more investigating for the arrest of the criminals. They are inflicting innocent people in prison while the killers are free!!

This show goes to show you what the justice system will do to get a confession out of you at all cost. The justice system does not care about getting the real killer their only goal is to get a confession and put someone away for life with no parole. I will get a lawyer in I find myself in a situation like this even if I am innocent and I have 100 alibis.

After watching the first 3 shows of the first season I have to take a break. The injustice portrayed here is stunning and enraging. Prosecutors and police will lie, cheat, hide evidence, manufacture evidence, all the time KNOWING that they need to do this to make people seem guilty, then when they are clearly exonerated by DNA, confessions, or other means, they still have the gall to insist that these poor people deserved to be punished. Until we hold prosecutors accountable, this travesty of justice will continue. In the last one I saw, a group of black men had their case brought to the Supreme Court, THIS disgusting and stolen Supreme Court. I don't have to tell you what happened.

An eye opening series showing how in certain situations a person can be coerced into confession. Some of the footage is down right appalling, how the cops treated these people and broke them down. For each case the interviews were relevant, and the archival footage well used. Though it did sometimes feel like the whole story wasn't being shown.

This is a great documentary that shows major holes in our justice system. We all assume things would happen if we were ever accused of a crime. Such as, innocent until proved guilty, or that it would need to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that we were guilty. Those assumptions simply are not true. This series like several others Netflix has done show the adversarial relationship the police and prosecutors have toward accused citizens. To them it is about winning, not finding justice.

What i got out of this series, is get a goddamn lawyer when talking to the police

Eye opening, I am already hooked. I hope Netflix will do another season. This director is awesome! I binged watched the whole season and was ready for more. This must be a small fraction of what is going on. I had no idea what went on during interrogation. It made me rethink what I would do in each situation. This is an intriguing show. Thanks for bringing this awesome series to us, Netflix.

The show is definitely biased.. I had to search more about some cases to know more details. Overall, I am not convinced they are all innocent, most of them were clearly guilty. BUT this has taught me to never talk to the police without the presence of my lawyer.

Netflix has come with a new series where people confess a crime they didn't do... At least that is how Netflix pictures them. I really wan't to believe that these sentenced didn't do the crime, but I have to keep in my mind that Netflix also can show what it want's me to believe.

The second episode was the most disturbing so far. It left me in tears and after watching it, I really wanted to sign a petition or at least do something.. But something also tells me that Netflix doesn't show me the whole context. If Netflix can make me believe in one episode that these people are innocent, how come that the judges don't believe it? I assume and really hope that the American judge system is not as corrupted and naive as Netflix pictures it.

If I have to believe that these people are innocent, the more disturbing thing is that the real perpetrators still aren't behind bars.

So to keep a long review short... - you don't know what to believe - These episode's will leave you angry and confused - Very disturbing stories

Last but not least... I have to give Netflix a big thumps up for creating a platform that doesn't show how great the world is and how heroic people are.. not every story has a happy ending.

Well presented documentary that attempts to teach one very important lesson. Never, ever, ever, ever speak to the police without legal representation.

Whatever the case, one must keep in mind that the police will use any method they can get away with to secure a conviction, rightly or wrongly.

That said, I've doubts about the individuals involved. The makers of the documentary obviously will push their position that all are innocent whereas I felt only convinced of the innocence of one and maybe she was guilty?

This is made regarding US justice system but sadly, it is true for the entire world. We all have watched in movies that whenever there is an accusation of any kind of wrongdoing, then the accused(most of the times) asks for attorney straight away. I always wondered why they do that? Why pay an expensive lawyer when you are innocent and have done nothing wrong. AFTER watching it, I UNDERSTOOD and understood well enough and felt it's worth to do that. *One line from Episode 4* — Karen Boes, who was convicted in related to the death of her daughter,(I dare not call it murder because conviction/evidence was very very iffy in my opinion) said the last line in this episode:- "It doesn't matter how innocent you are, get an attorney and don't speak" (to police/investigators alone).

One line we all often hear is that every person has a breaking point.Before watching it, I was skeptical about HOW ON EARTH someone can confess to a crime they didn't commit, after watching this, I am still not 100% convinced, but I certainly feel it's possible. In some cases, it does feel like state just want to pin it on someone for the sake of it and doesn't follow the evidence. And we see really long interviews, some even using leading the suspects into saying things they normally won't and using illegal techniques.

Please heed those Karen Boes words if anyone finds themselves in any such unfortunate situation.

The possibility of a false confession is something every citizen in the USA should understand, because everyone has to do jury duty. This series is really a public service announcement and lesson in civics that all of us should receive.

While others say that this series shows a failure of the US justice system, it really shows the failures of human psychology, because all of these people received a guilty verdict from a jury--12 regular citizens. So many jurors think, "Why would they confess if they didn't do it? They must be guilty!" without wanting to realize the complexities of human psychology--especially under pressure and intimidation.

In all of the cases presented, the lawyers of the defendant gave strong cases, and if the jurors were willing to read in-between the lines and see the tell-tale signs of a false confession, then perhaps the fates of these poor individuals would have been much different. The grounds for an innocent verdict were there and were not suppressed.

This series is extremely well done, and the cases that they chose to present were airtight in their logic and defense of an innocent verdict. We see the humanity of the accused innocent--as well as of the lawyers and jurors that accused them. We see the arrogance and irresponsibility of police investigators and judges.

The only thing I see missing from this series is a follow up as to what happened at the appeals. It shocked me that, in many of these cases, the accused had exhausted their appeals, and I am left wondering, why?!?! How can an injustice like this be committed over and over again?!?! But there are no details given as to why their appeals failed.

The lesson I see from this series is that the failure of justice cannot be chalked up to an obscure authority of "The US justice system" but rather a failure of citizens (jurors, media reporters/journalists, police, lawyers, judges) to think abstractly and critically--and HUMANELY. When an injustice is committed, it is a known fault of human psychology to try to pin blame somewhere, anywhere--but an innocent person's life may be ruined, and in many cases these people's lives were ruined before ever even being convicted.

I hope future seasons of The Confession Tapes will give a glimpse into what happens in the appeals process, but other than that, this series gives a voice to the voiceless and is truly a work of art and philanthropy.

Doc-u-men-ta-ry : of, relating to, or employing documentation in literature or art : being, consisting of, or contained in documents : a presentation (such as a film or novel) expressing or dealing with factual events

I don't know why people seem to believe documentaries are somehow "required" to present both sides in an unbiased manner. That's the job of journalists, and even they don't do it; the nightly news is filled with bias.

People who confuse "documentary" with "news" don't understand what documentaries are supposed to be. Read the definitions above. Nowhere does it say that all facts must be presented or the presentation should be unbiased.

The intent of documentary film is to present an argument and support that argument with information. Documentary film is the media equivalent to a structured debate or writing a persuasive essay. You include opposing arguments and facts only to the point they help make your case. End of story.

Also, it's dumbfounding how many people fundamentally misunderstand our criminal justice system. Only the prosecution must prove anything using evidence. The entire purpose of the defense is to create reasonable doubt. The defense is not required to offer evidence to support their claims. They create outrageous lies to save their client. This is done every day. It is how it is supposed to be done. If the defense were required to state the truth and provide evidence, 99% of trials would never happen, because the defendant would just plead guilty.

Grow up, people.

This is so sad to watch. I myself wouldn't think it's even possible to admit to the crime one has not committed. However looking at the interrogation technique that cops are using in US is horrendous. Intimidation, fear and hours long pressure play tricks with your mind. Once they feel the weakness of the person they start exploiting it until one has given up. Fear overrides everything.

Why is it happening? Why the police does not invest more time investigating the case making sure they exhausted all the options? because it's hard work...maybe it's more convenient to press and use out the vulnerability of people who lost their dearest ones, those in grief.

The crazy thing about it is that the victims do not ask for a lawyer!!!

So many cases in US are wrongfully convicted it makes me cringe ...

I find these real hard to watch because of some of these idiotic Sheriff's and DA's.... I'm all for putting people away that commit serious crimes but God almighty it's simple to see some of these men or women had absolutely nothing to do with these crimes... And man oh man how does some of these people get law enforcement jobs

Wow, this show is incredible. It shows some of the dirty tactics police use to coerce innocent people into confessing to murder. You don't really think police would do that but to actually see it on video, is eye opening.

It's a must watch.

All I can say is that as a lay man and non lawyer this documentary is a blatant example of left-wing anti-law enforcement bias. I will say however that this show was very well directed and quite interesting.

It's likely that the overriding agenda regarding this series was aimed at pushing an agenda that is anti-capital punishment. As always with the progressive left, the criminals are almost never guilty and victims of a flawed society. The very people protecting us and bringing about justice are demonized. All law enforcement is corrupt and illegitimate and we as Americans should be suspect of them.

These are simple cut and dry common sense cases where the evidence is overwhelming and the accused guilt is undeniable. The cases then get picked apart to the point that a reasonable person could possibly be led to conclude that the investigators conspired to frame those convicted. We're then coerced into empathizing with the monsters and hating the real heroes. Just think back to O.J., JFK, 9/11 conspiracies and the nonsense that sparked the BLM movement in Ferguson.

It just goes to show that if one splits hairs and over-examines something so simple and obvious that the audience can be led to believe in the innocence of anyone. Let us all now join together and celebrate this injustice by kneeling during the national anthem