Forensic Test 4 Flashcards
the development of exonerations correspond with the development of
DNA analysis
90% of exonerations come from physical evidence
how many exonerations per year by innocence projects does:
- Canada
- US
US - 367 (255 due to faulty eye witness, 69% of all cases)
Canada - 24
Explain the study by P. Delvin involving eye-witness testimony
Looked at 2116 court cases
- in 45% of cases a suspect was picked from a lineup
- 90% of the subjects picked from the lineup were brought to persecution
- In 347 of those cases, eyewitness testimony was the only evidence
- yet, 75% of the cases that only had prosecution were convicted
What happened in the study of a mock jury that looked at how much eyewitness evidence impacts convictions
What is the take away from this study?
Corner store robbery and murder
Conviction rates based on given evidence:
18% : Given short description of facts, circumstantial evidence, defence rebuttal
72%: When eyewitness ID’d the defendant
68% : When eyewitness evidence was undermined (“Witness wasn’t wearing their glasses)
Take away: Just getting eye witness evidence in, even if not reliable, is very important for prosecution
Explain the Porter, Yuille & Lehman (1999) study about recovered memories
- Tested false memory implementation for emotional events
- Examine whether we can tell what are false memories and what are genuine memories
- 77 participants
- Researchers got parents to fill out survey which identify the history of the child so researchers could come up with one real memory, one fabricated memory, and one memory for implantation
- participants believe it is a memory task where they are asked to remember memory details and their parents will be called later to corroborate them
- researcher says both are real, take time to answer, use social pressure, guided imagery
- at end, told that if they can convince a third party that a new event, given to participant in an envelope, happened/
Results: 75/77 recalled real event
20/77 recalled false memory with all criteria
- 34 had no recall whatsoever
- when telling rela event - tell in third person
detail - most in fabricated, lowest in implanted
- don’t show confidence for fabricated
Asked to bet if individually, the memory was genuine
- 31% believe false memory is real
- 35% bet implanted memory is real
92% were correct when told to guess which is real if only one is real and other is fake
What is a false memory
When you believe something happened that didn’t
What is repression
When the event occurred, your mind locked it away in a box. You have no memory of it even at the time of it happenin
What is a recovered memory
A repressed memory that is unlocked
- idea that it is pristine since it hasn’t gone through decay or interference
What is memory suppression
When something happened, and you know it happened at the time of the event, but you don’t want to think about it
What are flashbulb memories
an impression may be so exciting emotionally as to leave a scar on the cerebral tissues
How can we test flashbulb memories
we can look at events that create flashbulb memories for a large amount of people
- 9/11
- Inauguration of O/Bama
- Challenger explosion
the exact same techniques used to recover memories are also used to ____
induce memories
- this makes I hard to determine where these memories are actually coming from
When did false memory research take off? What disorder began taking off as a concept, resulting in increased diagnoses during this time?
1980s
Multiple personality disorder
- theory: repressed memory locked away in a personality
What is some evidence in history that ppl can induce disorders or behaviour?
demonic possession - demonic position cases tend to present symptoms of the persons own proposed religion
Certain communities suddenly have higher incidence of Multiple Personality Disorders or another disorder, - seems to be a single therapist
Explain the study by Patihis (2014) That looked at professionals’ beliefs in repressed/supressed memories
Less belief that repressed memories can be retrieved in therapy accurately
From most to least belief in repressed memories and recovery: General public, alternative therapists’, clinical psychologist practitioners, clinical psychologist researchers
Maybe they believe in repressed memories but when recovery of memory is attempted, it can easily be done wrong to induce a memory
Alternative therapists (anyone who isn’t a clinical therapist or psychologist)
Why was the challenger such a huge event?
christa mcauliffe - in 1960/70s ppl going to moon schools would show the launches of rockets - these celebrities that they became, instrumental in getting nasa funding - the challenger was an attempt to bring back all that excitement, she was a school teacher, there was a contest to be the first non astronaut to go to space - shown at all schools -
Explain the study on the challenger explosion flashbulb memory by Neisser and Harsch
A study of memories of the challenger disaster
1992 - they wanted to test their memory later on
Question them on day of disaster and wait for 2 years and 44 of 106 students answer another questionnaire - about elements of that flashbulb memory
The day after - that info the researchers used as ground truth
Then back 2 years later they asked the same questions and they wanted to see if answers matched
Each question was also accompanied by a confidence scale 1-5
25% (11) claimed to remember seeing the questionnaire before but most did claim they had this flashbulb memory
After an analysis - memories weren’t great - researchers wanted to see if they could help them match up -
Asked them to answer a bunch of questions about the event to get details about everything they remembered
Also shown original questionnaire they filled out and signed 2 years earlier
the majority got nothing rightdespite confidence ratings on being right were very very high
So: flashbulb memory doesn’t seem to be very good
Follow up interview - things dont improve - memory got worse
When shown their own questionnaire they were shocked and were not willing to change their recollection of it now - the way they saw it now was the way it actually happened
Some didn’t even believe they themselves had filled out that questionnaire
Ratings of vividness and intensity of memory nd whether the statements were accurate
Only auditory seemed to be a significant correlation as being accurate
The stories ppl were telling were that stories were converging -
On TV you couldn’t help but see the explosion everyday, so even though most people had found out through a friend, or overheard it, there subsequent memory of what it was first finding out about it watching TV
what has the US courts told ppl about confidence? is it right?
they told ppl more they tell juries they can use witnesss confidence as some evidence related to the accuracy of their testimony confidence = more likely telling the truth
not right based on studies, particularly the one with the challenger flashbulb memories
When does confidence play a role in the accuracy of testimony
only directly after the event. in initial police interviews that are unbiased
how do we treat the fragility of eyewitness testimony?
not well
- not treated with same care as physical evidence (protect the scene, don’t contaminate anything)
- eyewitness testimony usually contaminated by:
- query construction
- leaking
- poor recording
- rookies who want to find out things from witnesses
what is the best interview style for questioning a witness
the cognitive interview
interview vs interrogration
interview - any time police are talking to someone
interrogation - talking to a suspect
difference of talking during these:
- during interrogation sometimes rapport building is used as the ol is confession
Explain the cognitive interview
- Rapport building
- Supportive interviewer behaviour - let them tell their story then later go back and ask questions
- Transfer of control - let witness control the interview - everyone tells stories differently
- Focused retrieval - only after the previous steps do you go to this
- Witness-compatible questioning - when asking questions you want to try that they are in a style that matches how the witness thinks about things
recommendations for lineups
double-blind administration
the different lineup by brewer et al. (results in best accuracy)
What is: A Different Lineup
Brewer et al 2012
Used just confidence judgments on how confident you are this is the perp under deadline pressure
Get photos sequentially
Relative confidence? Which one are you most confidence about? That’s the perpetrator
Accuracy increased from 11% to 38%
Still, no one uses it
Rejected by prosecutors - all these 6s and 5s goes to the defense - goes back to whole story of portraying more confidence than you have - the defense could say they picked this person and say this is almost just as good
describe the stages/ processes of memory
encoding (when you are perceiving and paying attention to something), then short-term, then long-term (where it can be retrieved as needed
how does stress influence memory
it can actually result in poorer memory - contrary to popular belief
does the presence of a weapon influence an eyewitnesses memory
yes, usually witnesses focus on the weapon (“weapon focus”) and have a less reliable memory for other aspects of the crime
what is recall memory? Example?
reporting details of a previously witnessed event or person
example: describing what
what is recognition memory? Example?
determining whether a previously seen item or person is the same as what is currently being viewed
what is a goal of interrogation other than obtaining information?
get a change in behaviour or get the individual to do something (usually a confession)
why is there a huge importance of interrogating a suspect
there is a belief that confessions are important
why is there the belief that confessions are important?
- can make processes go faster when you have a confession
expedite the process
- less work for prosecution, officers
- some ppl believe it is good for the perpetrator to confesses as it if they are willing to confess and accept punishment it is better for their soul
- usually ends with a less sentence which is less expensive
what is the most popular interrogation technique?
What are its steps?
- Confront suspect with their guilt - we know you did this, say you have evidence (can make this up in Canada)
- Provide the suspect with the means to justify their crime - ex if it was a rape you might say well she really wanted it , convince them its alright to admit to this as its what she wanted
- Denials are interrupted - dont let them continue -
- Be overbearing until they start to withdraw - may sound like a bad idea but also you cant let them believe they are in control of the situation bc then you cant manipulate
- Once 4 is achieved move physically closer (avoid tune out)
- Provide sympathy and understanding - “I know this isn’t pleasant, lets figure out a way so we dont have to be doing this anymore”
- Offer a way to save face - like step 2 - provide a way to get out of confession without belief you are a bad person
- Develop 7 into a full confession
- Write and sign
what are officers NOT allowed to do during interrogations?
- no direct threats
- no physical assaults
describe the minimization technique for interrogations
(not the act, as that as to be confessed to) but minimize moral culpability, how bad it was
describe the maximization technique for interrogations
- maxing potential neg outcomes if you don’t confess - while you cant say if you dont confess you will get life and if you do you will get 15 years - but can say if you do confess this whole process will go much easier - you max not confessing - if you dont confess ill have to get other ppl in here, there will be tons of court dates, etc. If you dont confess
describe the lying within regulations technique for interrogations
Deception is only acceptable when it is not so appalling that it shocks the community
describe the mutt-and-jeff tactic technique for interrogations
- Good cop back cop
- Divide technique between when providing sympathy and difficulty between 2 ppl so the person providing sympathy can be trusted
- Actually very rarely used
describe the baiting questions technique during interrogations
often hypothetical quesitons - if you did the commit the crime what weapon
describe the rapport building technique for interrogations
I’m here to help you - the only reason I exist is to help you
who is David Simon
- Homicide on the streets - tv series
- The wire - tv series
- Homicide: A year on the killing streets - book
- The wire - amazing for its realness
- He was invited to see investigations from beginning to end
what is a common tactic used during interrogations involving a pen
Give him a pen out of ink - that way the suspect has to help for help
what was used before psychological techniques during interrogations which resulted in millions of dollars in settlements
torture tactics
What is the Mr. Big technique
involves undercover police posing as criminals of a crime organization and attempt to lure the suspect into the gang. But before the suspect can be part of the gang, they must admit to everything they previously did - a form of insurance if the suspect was ever to turn against them
what kinds of results did the Mr. Big technique produce?
75% success rate and 95% conviction rate
According to Smith et al. (2009)
What happened in R v Hart (2014) regarding Mr. Big
the supreme court ruled that the burden of proof is on the prosecutors to show that the probable value of the Mr. Big confessions outweigh their prejudicial effect
what are some legal and ethical questions raised by the Mr. Big confession operations?
What is the counter to these?
entrapment - when a person is induced to commit an illegal act he otherwise would not commit
counter to entrapment: Canadian courts ruled that because the Mr. Big operation is designed to elicit a confession regarding an event that occurred before the operation started it falls outside of entrapment
coercion - confessions that are not given voluntarily = unreliable
counter to coercion: Canadian courts generally say that it is reasonable use of police trickery that would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute
What is the REID technique based on? Who was it developed by?
the book by Inbau et al (2013) called Criminal Interrogation and Confessions
Developed by John E Reid - polygrapher
General 3 step process to REID technique
- gather evidence related to crime and interview witnesses and victims
- conduct non-accusatorial interview of the suspect to assess any evidence of deception
- conduct an accusatorial interrogation for suspect if they are considered guilty
some other suggestions by Inau et al (2013) on how to interrogate a suspect
- make interrogation room plain to avoid distractions
- have evidence folder in hand when entering room
- have suspect in room by themselves prior to interrogator entering the room
What is the REID model of interrogation based on (an idea)
ppl make choices that they think will max their well-being given the constraints they face
- during stage 3, the suspects naturally fear of confessing outweighs their anxiety caused by remaining deceptive
- the REID method tries to flip these fears psychologically
What is detecting deception
why is related to problematic elements of the REID technique
detecting that someone is being deceptive
- the interrogation relies on an accurate assessment of whether the suspect is being deceptive when they claim to be innocent
Explain the study by Eastwood and Snook (2010) that looked at whether ppl know their rights
56 undergrads
half of them enrolled in police recruitment program
- presented both with right to silence and legal counsel first in verbal format, then written
- participants than recorded their understanding and rated how confident their were with their understanding
- results: participants had difficulty understanding each caution element … it helped understanding when cautions were presented in written format one at a time
Eastwood et al (2015) found what about highschoolers
had very low levels of comprehension when presented with Canadian youth waivers in oral format
what is investigator bias? What did Kassin et al (2003) find about investigator bias and what it results in
when police officers enter an interrogation setting already believing the suspect is guilty
- interrogators with guilty expectations asked more questions that indicated their belief in suspects guilt
- with guilty expectations used higher frequency of interrogation techniques guilty expectations - judged suspects to be more guilty regardless of ground truth
- exerted more pressure to confess
- suspects had fairly accurate perceptions about amount of pressure police were exerting on them
- neutral observes viewed guilty expectations as more coercive
are confessions allowed in court? what do we consider?
it depends. The trial judge decides if confession evidence can be admitted into court
Key issues for a judge to consider:
- was confession made voluntarily?
- was defendant competent when confession was made?
Explain R v. Oickle (2002) in Waterville Nova Scotia
Richard Oickle confessed to 7 counts of arson here in NS between 1994 - 1995
to get confession, police:
- exaggerated the infallibility of polygraph
- implied psychiatric help would be provided if there was a confession
- minimized the seriousness of the crime
0 suggested a confession would spare Oickels girlfriend form having to undergo a stressful operation
judge: confession is admissible
result: conviction on all counts
Court of appeal: confession inadmissible, entered an acquittal
Supreme court of Canada: confession was properly admitted the first time, convictions should stand
- also laid out how they decided:
1) the court must consider whether police made any threats or promises
2) the court myst look for an atmosphere of oppression
3) court must consider whether suspect has an operating mind - aware of what they were saying and doing
4) court must consider the degree of police truicjejy used to extract the confession
Explain R v Chapple (2012)
suspects confession was deemed inadmissible by judge who criticized interrogator
Chapple - self employed day-care worker who was accused of being responsible for serious head injuries suffered by one of the children in her care
- interrogated about involvement
- 8 hour interrogation
- she asserted her right to remain silent on 24 separate occasions during the interrogation
- interrogator critizised the legal advice given to chapple
- interrogator lied and said the medical evidence of injuries support only one onlusion that did not algn with chapples version of events
what is PEACE?
Planning and preparation Engage and explain Account Closure Evaluation
- based on interview method known as conversation management - encourages info gathering more than confession obtaining during an interview
what do police agencies in England and Whales call interrogations now to get away from negative connotations
investigative interviewing
what are the three types of false confessions? Explain them
voluntary - they make a voluntary confession
coerced-compliant - they go along with it, make a confession in hopes it will better their future/outcome
coerced-internalized - they are coerced but then actually believe that they committed the crime and they make a confession
What happened with Chas. A. Lindbergh
He was a famous aviator whose baby was kidnapped
- over 200 ppl voluntarily confessed to the kidnapping
Explain the 1974 IRA attacks where 26 ppl were killed, and 150 ppl were injured. What type of confessions were made?
It was thought that the Irish Public Army was a terrorist organization
- after the 1974 attacks, the public didn’t care how the ppl who were caught were treated
- 6 were arrested, beat to try to get them to confess
4 signed confessions (coerced-compliant)
1, Patty Hill, told him they were going to get a statement from him or kick him to death
- later it was shown that none of the 6 were involved planted the bombs
Explain what happened with Paul Ingram, and what kind of confession resulted
Paul Ingram accused of sexually abusing his two daughters
- Paul belonged to a church that believed that the devil made ppl do things- satanic rituals - and theat the devil could make you forget about it
- one daughter, Erica, went to a youth camp where a woman with prophetic powers told her that Erica had been abused with no memory of it
- brought Erica in for questioning, took her to recovered memory therapy, and then her sister went as well
- paul wanted them to go bc he believed in it and his daughters
- daughters made allegations paul sexually abused them.
- paul came to believe it, as any recovered memory must be a true emory and the devil could make him do thins and forget about them
Things he apparently did to them: got them preganant over 25 times then slaughtered the new born babies
evidence? - non whatsoever, no scares, no evidence of pregnancies
- when psychologist test him and ask him if he did a bunch of crimes hse had made up he confessed to them, she believes now he is completely innocent
- even some cops withdrew from case bc they believed he was innocent
- he was incaracerated, has to register as sex offender and everything
one daughter still believes she was assaulted by him today
Kassin and Kiechel (`1996) experiment explained
Got undergrads to participate in study involving sorted with computer keys, Told them theyve been having issues where if you press the ALT key the computer crashes, dont press it
Threat: sign the paper sayig you pressed it or you will have to talk to head experimenter about why computer crashed
accused 75 participants who didnt press key, that they pressed key
all 75 denied it at first
Some had a “partner” witness and said they did it
somedid the activity (key pressing) fast, some did it slow
most to least % of ppl who signed confession fast + witness slow + witness Fast + no witness slow + no witness
NEED TOREAD ARTICLE AGAIN BC HE SUCKS AT EXPLAININE
Nash and Wade 2009
Explain the study by Kassin et al (2003) where students were both interrogators and participants
if given interrogator role - had interrogation planned in advance
- accusation : stole 100$
- some students had, some students hadn’t. All were instructed to deny it and not give in
- independent variable: belief of interrogator
- condition 1: told interrogator 4/5 of suspects were innocent
- condition 2: told interrogator 4/5 of suspects were guilty
expectation of guilt had huge effect
- resulted in innocent ppl being declared guilty even more often than the guilty ppl
- when person is innocent but the belief is they’re guilty - most effort into interrogations
