How cognitive biases, which run rampant in the criminal justice system, could have resulted in Melissa Lucio getting the death sentence, by JeffKukucka
Suggestions of leniency and sleep deprivation increase the risk of false confession.Source:"The Shadow of Justice" by JMTimages on Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
On April 27th, Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed in Texas for the murder of her daughter, but many are now scrutinizing the evidence used to convict her—including a dubious confession and autopsy—and wondering if the" " even occurred. Her case is the subject of the 2020 documentary, “The State of Texas vs. Melissa,” which is available on Hulu, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services. What does psychological science say about the evidence against Melissa?In February 2007, Melissa Lucio’s two-year-old daughter Mariah fell down a steep flight of wooden stairs outside of the apartment complex where she lived with her husband and children. Two days later, Mariah was found unresponsive around 7 P.M.