For decades, the name Amanda Knox has been synonymous with one of the most high-profile cases of false confession in modern history. Arrested as a 20-year-old student studying abroad in Italy in 2007, Knox spent four years in prison for the murder of her roommate—a crime she did not commit—before she was finally exonerated.

While many associate her ordeal with a foreign legal system, experts say the tactics used by Italian authorities are identical to those employed by police departments across the United States every day.