To the breaking point

I've written previously about how pressure brought to bear on defendants often is too much for them to deal with and they wind up confessing to crimes that they did not commmitt while under pressure. http://llbblogging.blogspot.com/2010/09/under-pressure.html

An interesting article in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/us/tough-sentences-help-prosecutors-push-for-plea-bargains.html?_r=2&hp the other week helps to shed light on why someone might do such a thing.