Using data from the National Registry of Exonerations, we examined how the presence of confession evidence impacts prosecutors’ tendency in order to (1) commit misconduct in any form (e.g., permitting perjury and witness tampering) and (2) specifically withhold exculpatory evidence (i.e., evidence favorable to the defense). We assess these relationships particularly in the context of wrongful convictions by guilty plea from an innocent individual (i.e., false guilty plea [FGP]) or guilty verdict at trial. We show the presence of false confessions increased the likelihood of (1) prosecutors engaging in misconduct generally and (2) prosecutors withholding exculpatory evidence specifically. However, the presence of prosecutorial misconduct and withholding evidence decreased the odds of a wrongful conviction via an FGP compared to wrongful conviction via guilty verdict.

中文翻译：

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坦白对不当行为和无罪认罪的影响：对证据开示政策的影响

使用国家无罪登记处的数据，我们研究了口供证据的存在如何影响检察官的倾向，以便（1）犯下任何形式的不当行为（例如，允许作伪证和篡改证人）和（2）专门隐瞒无罪证据（即有利于辩方的证据）。我们评估这些关系，特别是在无辜者认罪（即虚假认罪 [FGP]）或审判中有罪判决的错误定罪背景下。我们表明，虚假供述的存在增加了（1）检察官普遍从事不当行为和（2）检察官具体隐瞒无罪证据的可能性。然而，与通过有罪判决来错判相比，检方不当行为和隐瞒证据的存在降低了通过 FGP 错判的可能性。