Sep 10, 2026 · 22 min · 13 segments
Marty Tankleff was arrested at age 17 for the double murder of his adoptive parents~a crime he didn't commit (and which is still unsolved over 30 years later). He was sentenced to 50 years to Life. He…
Marty TankleffGuestHarriet HendelHost
Well, back in 1988, you could lie to a juvenile in every state in the country.
Since then, many states have passed legislation where you're not allowed to lie to youthful suspects.
I have testified in a number of jurisdictions, and each time I've testified, we always get this pushback.
Why are we limiting it to children or youthful individuals? And we always get the same response.
And what I find very interesting is that if an FBI agent lies to you during an interrogation, that is completely legal.
If you lied to an FBI agent during an interrogation, it's one of the reasons why Martha Stewart went to prison.
And we've learned through empirical studies and through cognitive science interviewing skills that lying to suspects during interrogations does not produce accurate, credible, and valuable information.
And quite often when interrogations are recorded from the very first question, right? And we see everything that happens.
There's a retired lieutenant from Washington, D.C., Jim Tranum, who had his entire interrogation videotaped.
When he rewatched it years later, he was able to see how he was able to get a false confession.
It's one of the reasons why I have been a very big proponent that we record every single interview, confession, every interaction, because it protects everyone involved.
Well, back in 1988, you could lie to a juvenile in every state in the country.
Since then, many states have passed legislation where you're not allowed to lie to youthful suspects.
I have testified in a number of jurisdictions, and each time I've testified, we always get this pushback.
Why are we limiting it to children or youthful individuals? And we always get the same response.
And what I find very interesting is that if an FBI agent lies to you during an interrogation, that is completely legal.
If you lied to an FBI agent during an interrogation, it's one of the reasons why Martha Stewart went to prison.
And we've learned through empirical studies and through cognitive science interviewing skills that lying to suspects during interrogations does not produce accurate, credible, and valuable information.
And quite often when interrogations are recorded from the very first question, right? And we see everything that happens.
There's a retired lieutenant from Washington, D.C., Jim Tranum, who had his entire interrogation videotaped.
When he rewatched it years later, he was able to see how he was able to get a false confession.
It's one of the reasons why I have been a very big proponent that we record every single interview, confession, every interaction, because it protects everyone involved.
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