"...confessions" ?   Any number of people have confessed or "confessed" to thimngs they couldn't possibly have done. A confession is a kind of evidence, but it in't conclusive evidence in itself.

Highlight of the old Soviet show-trials was always the "confession".

The main argument against the Death Penalty is what it does to the society which goes in for it. It's a kind of addiction, and as in other addictions, addicts tend to deny it is damaging them.