flourish
Now With 30% More Emo
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Third, there ARE reasons Jessie would confess multiple times and be innocent. Contrary to what you think mentally handicapped people DO need to be told the same thing multiple times for it to stick (I've interacted with a few). Even if Jessie was told that Stidham didn't work for the state he'd still think otherwise unless it was drilled into his skull. Mentally handicapped people ALSO want to please authority so he may have thought Stidham WANTED him to confess.
Respectfully snipped by me, for space, emphasis, and content.
I am a disabilities professional. You are making some rather sweeping generalizations about people with disabilities. You may have interacted with a few, and formed some opinions based on those interactions, but those few don't necessarily represent the entire disabled population.
Some people with intellectual disabilities do want to please authority figures, just as some neuro-typical people want to please authority figures. However, it is not accurate to say "all" people with intellectual disabilities have that desire, because it's not true. For example, let's consider a person with ID (Intellectual disability, what you are calling a "mental handicap") who also has a diagnosis of Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Someone with ODD is typically not going to want to please authority; rather the opposite. Someone with Asberger's may not need something repeated more than once, as they very well may have an incredibly amazing memory.
Note how I used words like, "may" and "typically?" That's because there are rarely, if ever, absolutes, especially when it comes to people.
Between these generalizations and the poster upthread who referred to people with disabilities as "retards" and "half a person," I'm cringing every time I open this thread! Which is a shame, because I've wavered back and forth with my opinions about this case, and look forward to learning more information. However, when I read these ignorant and rude statements, the good information gets missed as I simply can't put any stock into anything someone says when they show no compassion, respect, or true understanding of a vulnerable population.
So, Jessie may or may not have been more susceptible to interrogation techniques which are conducive to making false confessions, due to a possible intellectual disability (I say possible because I haven't read his diagnostic documents). What's the best way to ascertain if his confession(s) were accurate reflections of reality vs. planted information for a coerced confession?