I found the Jan. 11 article entitled “Rockville man enjoys freedom after months in jail” to be quite eye-opening. Most of the public assumes that people only confess if they have actually committed the crime.

This article reminds the public, potential future jurors, that this is not always the case. It seems to me that many false confessions might stem from a desire to end the interrogation or the belief that since everyone believes they are guilty, they have no choice. In this case, there could also be question about the defendant’s ability to understand the interrogation since English was his second language.

This man is just one example of a much larger issue.

According to FalseConfessions.org, 93 percent of false confessors are male. Unlike this man, however, the majority of false confessions, 63 percent, come from persons under the age of 25. Statistics on false confessions are difficult, if not impossible, to compile because of the difficultly of disproving a confession.

The Innocence Project has helped to overturn three cases in Maryland since its establishment in 1992. Only one of these lists “False Confession/Admission” as a contributing factor in their convictions. This man, Anthony Gray, was serving two consecutive life sentences for rape and murder when DNA evidence exonerated him.

Gray was released seven years after he was convicted. Hopefully the publicity of these cases and the work of the Innocence Project will prompt jurors to consider this as they evaluate evidence before convicting defendants.

Erin Strosnider, Rockville