In the
law of criminal evidence, a
confession is a statement by a suspect in crime which is adverse to that person. Some secondary authorities, such as
Black's Law Dictionary, define a confession in more narrow terms,
e.g. as "a statement admitting or acknowledging all facts necessary for conviction of a crime," which would be distinct from a mere
admission of certain facts that, if true, would still not, by themselves, satisfy all the
elements of the offense. The equivalent in civil cases is a
statement against interest.