8-year old boy coerced into confessing to murder

On November 19th, it was reported that an 8-year old Arizona boy had confessed to premeditated double-murder. Some have questioned the interrogation tactics used on the boy, asserting he was coerced into a confession. Two articles, “Boy, 8, gives taped account in shooting deaths” (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/18/arizona.boy.murder/index.html?eref=time_us) and “Experts: Interrogation of boy, 8, ‘out of bounds’” (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/19/boy.confession.tactics/index.html) describe the issue. The interview began with the boy being treated as a witness, not a suspect. However, the tone changed drastically as one officer doubted the boy’s story. "You're sure?" the officer asked. "Because I heard something that somebody said that somebody was calling your name and you weren't answering." The boy subsequently admitted to shooting both men twice. The topic of obedience is central to this story. Stanley Milgram’s famous experiment illustrated the tendency of people to obey the orders of their superiors. In this case, the boy’s superiors – the officers – forced him to obey and answer the questions a certain way. Because the boy was only eight years old and therefore had a relatively undeveloped brain, he was especially susceptible to this. Legal analysts cited in the article did not believe the boy’s statements would stand up in court.