In Act 4 of The Crucible, Reverend Hale returns to the court to persuade those who were falsely accused to confess to witchcraft so that they will not give their lives for something that they have not done -- this is evident when he says, "There is blood on my head. Can you not see the blood on my head?"
Hale's argument favoring John's confession is along the same lines as this. At this point, Hale realizes that Proctor is not a witch, has never practiced witchcraft and is a product of the mass hysteria that has overtaken Salem. Hale wants Proctor to confess because he knows that he is telling the truth and that the girls were total liars.
Furthermore, Proctor states, "I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it," in Act 4 after he confesses to witchcraft. The judges ask him who else he has seen with the devil. Because John has committed the sin of adultery, he does not think that he can "judge another" -- that is what Proctor does not have the tongue for.
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