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False confessions play a major role in two recent documentaries about wrongful convictions. West of Memphis examines the case of three young Arkansas men who were locked up for the horrific 1993 murders of three 8-year-old boys. Perhaps the most powerful piece of the prosecution's case was a confession by Jessie Misskelley describing in graphic detail how he and his two co-defendants beat, raped and mutilated the boys. The documentary, however, showed how the police could - after hours of intense interrogation, heavy with leading questions - manipulate and extract a false story from Misskelley, an unsophisticated young man with a low IQ.

Scenes of a Crime Documentary Description: "SCENES OF A CRIME" explores a nearly 10-hour interrogation that culminates in a disputed confession, and an intense, high-profile child murder trial in New York state. The film won an IFP Gotham Indep...