Beny Dassey And Daryl Atkins Case Study
Brendan Dassey and Daryl Atkins: Forensic Psychologists in Law
The cases of Brendan Dassey and Daryl Atkins demonstrate the roles of forensic psychologists in law. Notably, the case of Brendan Dassey illustrates how a teen who had an intellectual disability was coerced into a confession (Nirider, Tepfer, & Drizin, 2012). Moreover, the case of Daryl Atkins exhibits an individual who was mentally disabled and sentenced to death. Both these cases demonstrate some of the roles that forensic psychologists may play in police interrogations and court. In the case of Dassey, eyewitness identification procedures conducted by police were questionable and led to a false confession. Similarly, in Atkin’s case, the question of whether the execution of mentally …show more content…
From the case’s inception, the way that the police handled the situation was questionable, from the crime scene to the interrogation. In the now-famous case, Dassey confessed to having taken part in the murder of Teresa Halbach in which his uncle, Steven Avery was also involved (Nirider et al., 2012). Dassey was a party of interest because he had attended a bonfire at the Avery residence the night Teresa went missing. From the beginning, Dassey had never recalled anything suspicious happening until his police interrogation (Nirider et al., 2012). Dassey’s interrogations which were conducted in February of 2006 were able to demonstrate how police officers continuously suggested that Dassey had assisted Avery in the murder. These interrogations were able to exhibit Dassey’s personality and behaviors. It was evident that he was a shy and reserved person. Nirider et al. (2012), explain that Dassey was in special education classes and had previously never had trouble with the law. Dassey was interviewed and interrogated by police without a parent or an attorney present in three different instances in 2006. Police officers urged Dassey to tell them the story of what had really happened. Eventually, Dassey, who was under pressure, went on to say that he had taken part in sexually assaulting and then murdering Teresa Halbach (Nirider et al., 2012). Dassey went on to say that he had seen Halbach’s body in the bonfire. Interestingly, there was never any physical evidence indicating that Halbach was sexually assaulted. In fact, Halbach’s remains only indicated that she was shot in the head not sexually assaulted. Dassey had never stated that she had been shot, but police kept asking him what else Avery had done to her. At one point the officers explicitly asked what happened with her head to which Dassey replies that he cannot remember and the police reply “Who shot
The cases of Brendan Dassey and Daryl Atkins demonstrate the roles of forensic psychologists in law. Notably, the case of Brendan Dassey illustrates how a teen who had an intellectual disability was coerced into a confession (Nirider, Tepfer, & Drizin, 2012). Moreover, the case of Daryl Atkins exhibits an individual who was mentally disabled and sentenced to death. Both these cases demonstrate some of the roles that forensic psychologists may play in police interrogations and court. In the case of Dassey, eyewitness identification procedures conducted by police were questionable and led to a false confession. Similarly, in Atkin’s case, the question of whether the execution of mentally …show more content…
From the case’s inception, the way that the police handled the situation was questionable, from the crime scene to the interrogation. In the now-famous case, Dassey confessed to having taken part in the murder of Teresa Halbach in which his uncle, Steven Avery was also involved (Nirider et al., 2012). Dassey was a party of interest because he had attended a bonfire at the Avery residence the night Teresa went missing. From the beginning, Dassey had never recalled anything suspicious happening until his police interrogation (Nirider et al., 2012). Dassey’s interrogations which were conducted in February of 2006 were able to demonstrate how police officers continuously suggested that Dassey had assisted Avery in the murder. These interrogations were able to exhibit Dassey’s personality and behaviors. It was evident that he was a shy and reserved person. Nirider et al. (2012), explain that Dassey was in special education classes and had previously never had trouble with the law. Dassey was interviewed and interrogated by police without a parent or an attorney present in three different instances in 2006. Police officers urged Dassey to tell them the story of what had really happened. Eventually, Dassey, who was under pressure, went on to say that he had taken part in sexually assaulting and then murdering Teresa Halbach (Nirider et al., 2012). Dassey went on to say that he had seen Halbach’s body in the bonfire. Interestingly, there was never any physical evidence indicating that Halbach was sexually assaulted. In fact, Halbach’s remains only indicated that she was shot in the head not sexually assaulted. Dassey had never stated that she had been shot, but police kept asking him what else Avery had done to her. At one point the officers explicitly asked what happened with her head to which Dassey replies that he cannot remember and the police reply “Who shot