0220 Do Jurors Doubt Confessions from Sleep-Deprived Suspects?

False confessions are more likely to occur following lengthy interrogations and extreme fatigue induced by sleep deprivation. Are potential jurors more likely to doubt confessions when given by very fatigued and sleep-deprived individuals? Understanding such lay perceptions about confessions is critical for identifying gaps between scientific understanding of sleep loss and public understanding, but also for informing courts who must evaluate the reliability of statements obtained from sleep-deprived suspects. A pre-registered study examined what impact interrogation length and timing had on potential juror’s perceptions of suspects' resultant confessions. The study employed a 2 (interrogation length: 1 hr or 10 hrs) by 3 (interrogation timing: following sleep, following day work, or following night work) mixed design. Participants (N = 266) were jury-eligible young adults (56% women, 18-33) who evaluated two criminal cases during a mock trial. Cases involved a physical assault and a vehicular injury, alongside a witness and a suspect who later confessed following an interrogation. All subjects received state-required jury instructions and passed extensive checks. After each case, the participants indicated their verdict, followed by perceptions of suspect autonomy, coercion during the interrogation, vulnerability and sleep-related impairment. Participants acknowledged that suspects were much more fatigued following long interrogations and work. When judging guilt, participants were much less likely to convict suspects following a long than a short interrogation, while showing trends toward fewer convictions of sleep-deprived confessors. Mock jurors viewed suspects undergoing long interrogations as having less autonomy, more coercion, and higher cognitive impairment, ultimately doubting the suspects’ confessions even when rested. Furthermore, participants viewed Miranda waivers and confessions obtained from suspects after working long and overnight hours as less autonomous and more cognitively impaired. However, they did not mark confessions from such suspects as more coerced or less accurate. While mock jurors recognized that interrogation timing and length that induce sleep-deprivation can jointly amplify fatigue and increase impairment, they were not more likely to doubt confessions obtained following overnight work, despite significant sleep loss. The findings reveal novel insights regarding real-life factors that undermine perceptions of confession evidence and highlight gaps in lay understanding of sleep-related impairment. Support (if any)