Who bears the responsibility for determining whether a confession is true?

• A. The investigator who obtained it
• B. The judge
• C. The suspect
• D. The jury

Answer: (A)

The key idea is who weighs the confession against all the evidence. The investigator’s role is to gather information and ensure the confession was voluntary, but they don’t decide whether its contents are true. The judge handles legal issues like admissibility and whether the confession was obtained lawfully. The person or body that decides the truth of the confession is the trier of fact: typically the jury in a jury trial, or the judge in a bench trial. They evaluate the confession in light of all the evidence, assess its credibility, and determine how it fits with what actually happened. That means the confession’s truth isn’t determined by the person who obtained it, but by the jury or judge weighing the full case.