After defending interview and interrogation techniques Monday, former police detective Aaron Ring remained on the stand for most of the day Tuesday at the Fairbanks Four exoneration hearing.
Ring, who was key to putting together evidence that lead to the convictions of George Frese, Kevin Pease, Marvin Roberts and Eugene Vent for the 1997 beating death of John Hartman, told the court he doesn’t know if they are guilty.
Ring: “These individuals were charged and they were taken to jury trial. That’s what I believe. What I believe otherwise really doesn’t matter.”
Jahna Lindemuth: “And you believe, sitting here today, they they’re guilty of the crimes that they were convicted of?”
Ring: “I believe they were found guilty.”
Lindemuth, who citing an investigative technique textbook, also asked about Ring’s training, and whether Frese and Vent, who claimed alcohol induced memory blackouts, could have been coaxed into making false confessions.
Lindemuth: “Did you learn that at no time should an investigator attempt to persuade a suspect that he is guilty of a crime he claims he does not remember committing?”
Ring: “No, never been taught that.”
Ring contended that he didn’t solely rely on admissions from Frese and Vent, and gathered corroborating evidence in charging the Fairbanks Four with the Hartman attack.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
