Dr. Leo is a leading national authority on police
interrogation and confessions in the United States. He is
internationally known for his pioneering empirical research on
police interrogation practices, false confessions, and wrongful
convictions. Dr. Leo has written five books and more than 60
articles and book chapters on these and closely related topics, and
is one of the most cited criminal law and procedure scholars in the
country. He is the author of the award-winning book Police
Interrogation and American Justice (Harvard University Press,
2008), already considered to be the definitive study of police
interrogation and confessions in America. He is also the author of,
with Tom Wells, The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions and the
Norfolk Four (New Press, 2008) and, with George Thomas, The Miranda
Debate: Law, Justice and Policing (Northeastern, 1998). Nominated
for a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize, The Wrong Guys is
being written into a screenplay by John Grisham for adaptation into
a movie. Dr. Leo has won awards for research excellence and
distinction from many organizations, including the Law and Society
Association, the American Society of Criminology, the American
Psychological Association, the American Academy of Forensic
Psychology, the American Sociological Association, and the Pacific
Sociological Association. Dr. Leo is often quoted in print and
electronic media and his research has been cited by numerous
appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. He is
regularly invited to lecture and present training sessions to
lawyers, judges, police, and other criminal justice professionals.
Dr. Leo is also called to advise and assist practicing attorneys in
litigation and has served as a litigation consultant and/or expert
witness in criminal and civil trials. Dr. Leo has worked on many
high profile cases involving false confessions, including the cases
of Michael Crowe, Earl Washington, Kerry Max Cook, Medell Banks,
the Norfolk Four, and two of the Central Park jogger defendants.
Dr. Leo has also worked on behalf of numerous lesser-known victims
of coercive interrogation and false confession in cases that have
received no media attention.
