Based on press reports about Joe Biernat's trial, it appears that the
federal government's case against him is based almost entirely on his signed
confessions. There does not seem to be a question that he got free plumbing
work through a union official, and then supported that official's
appointment to a board. This much raises serious ethical questions but
would not serve as the basis for a federal extortion case - it is more
accurately categorized as "politics as usual" in traditional Minneapolis
local government. The essential evidence is Biernat's signed statement that
he specifically accepted the bribe in exchange for the political favor.
A recorded or signed confession is probably the most sure piece of
evidence for obtaining a criminal. conviction. Unfortunately, confessions
are highly overrated. There have been some high profile cases in Texas and
Illinois in the past several years where people have been released from
death row where confessions got them there, but scientific evidence later
exonerated them.
There is a large body of literature and educational seminars for police
and law enforcement agents on conducting interrogations and getting
confessions. While physical brutality is mostly passe, the experts now
emphasize the many psychological tricks to get people to confess. The big
misconception is such a confesssion is automatically equivalent to the
truth. There could be many reasons why someone could falsely confess -
fear, exhaustion (some interrogations go on around the clock),
misunderstanding, emotional weakness, etc. While getting a confession can
be challenging, it is not as difficult and not necessarily the same as
confirming the truth. It is simply the most convenient way to secure a
conviction and get the cops, agents, prosecutors credit for solving a case.
By all indications, Biernat's interrogator, FBI agent Sean Boylan is an
expert at getting confessions and his prior work might be a prime example of
how confessions do not equal the truth. Apparently, the judge prevented
Biernat's attorney from bringing out some evidence about Boylan's
background, which will make it all the less likely that the jury will be
able to fairly evaluate the reliability of the confession.
From my limited observation of Biernat, I could easily see him making a
false confession. What always struck me (before the indictment) was Joe's
unyielding reverence to power and authority. This "strength" in the
Minneapolis DFL machine turned out to be his fatal weakness when dealing
with the skilled FBI interrogator. I seriously question how much this
weakness has to do with guilt or innocence.
Jordan Kushner
Golden Valley
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