RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Most people do not feel free to leave a police interrogation room after only three minutes of questioning, a recently published study from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) ...

It's late at night inside a cramped interrogation room. The suspect being questioned may have come straight from working a double shift or maybe they've been sitting at the police station for hours.

RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 17, 2025) – Criminal suspects may feel unable to leave an interrogation room after only three minutes of questioning, according to new Virginia Commonwealth University research.

While research shows sleep-related fatigue affects how we think and feel, the impact of sleep loss on the reliability of statements and confessions in the legal system has received far less attention.

*Recently, a video surfaced of a teen girl who was arrested last August for her alleged involvement with the machete murder of a schoolmate. The video shows her hysterical beyond composure as a ...