Lesson 1: Interviewing, Interrogation and Confession

Question 1

Confession

Answer 1

A confession (admission of guilt) by a suspect is one of the most powerful pieces of evidence that can be presented at a defendant’s trial.

Because a confession is so powerful, it is important to consider how a confession was obtained and to ensure that is a true confession.

Question 2

Witness

Answer 2

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Question 3

Rapport

Answer 3

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Question 4

Open-ended Questions

Answer 4

Open-ended questions are designed to have the witness tell the interviewer what happened in their own word.

These are questions that begin with “Describe” “Tell me” or “Explain.”

They are useful at the beginning of an interview as they allow for a full, unrestricted account of the crime.

These types of questions produce answers which are less likely to have been influenced by the interviewer.

The interviewer should avoid interrupting the interviewee when asking open questions.

Question 5

Specific-closed Questions

Answer 5

Specific-closed questions are questions that ask for clarification or extension of what the witness communicated in the open-ended questions.

For example, “When did this happen?”

These questions give the interviewer more control and allow for more information to be collected

Question 6

Forced-choice Questions

Answer 6

Forced-choice questions are questions that provide the witness with a limited number of alternative responses.

For example, “Was the car dark red or light red?”

There are some problems with this sort of question.

The witness might guess between the alternatives if they are uncertain and the answer might not have been included.

Returning to our earlier example, the car might have been a dark orange and not red at all.

Question 7

Leading Questions

Answer 7

Leading questions are questions that imply the answer or assume information not revealed by the witness in the interview.

For example, if a witness to a car accident has not yet said what colour the car was, a leading question would be “How fast was the red car going when it hit the other car?”

These types of questions can distort the interviewee’s memory.

Question 8

Fear of Prejudice

Answer 8

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Question 9

Hope of Advantage

Answer 9

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Question 10

Operating Mind

Answer 10

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Question 11

Atmosphere of Oppression

Answer 11

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Question 12

Police Trickery

Answer 12

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Question 13

Voluntary False Confession

Answer 13

Occurs when an innocent person confesses without being prompted by the police.

Question 14

Coerced-complaint False Confession

Answer 14

Occurs when suspects who wish to escape from the stress of interrogation, avoid a threat of harm or punishment, or gain a promised or implied reward confess to a crime they did not commit.

Question 15

Coerced-internalized False Confession

Answer 15

Occurs when innocent suspects who are coerced, tired and highly suggestible actually come to believe that they committed the crime, and confess

Question 16

Compliance

Answer 16

Compliance refers to an inconsistency between one’s private opinion and one’s public behaviour.

It reflects a tendency for people to go along with people in authority.

If all of your friends said they thought that One Direction was a great band and you privately did not like the band, but told your friends that you did, then you would be engaging in compliance.

This is a harmless example, but researchers have found that in some cases, suspects confess to a crime they did not commit because they feel pressured to do so by the police officer interrogating them.

Suspects who confess because of compliance are engaging in a coerced-compliant false confession.

Question 17

Suggestibility

Answer 17

Suggestibility refers to the tendency of a suspect to internalize information communicated during an interrogation.

Suspects who confess to a crime because they have come to believe they truly committed the crime are engaging in suggestibility.

And, if the confession is not true, then they have engaged in a coerced-internalized false confession.

Suggestibility is different from compliance.

A suspect who confesses due to compliance knows they did not commit the crime.

A suspect who confesses because of suggestibility actually believes they did commit the crime.

Question 18

Scenario - When police officers brought Andy in for questioning about his role in a drug running operation, he had just been in a bar fight and was bleeding from his nose, eyebrow and knuckles. He was intoxicated and acting in a belligerent manner. The officers put him in a holding cell for 2 hours without giving him medical attention for his injuries. Andy slept in the cell for most of the time and was then awakened and questioned for hours without food or water. He was noticeably dazed and sleepy throughout the interview. Andy finally confessed to being involved in the drug running operation after 4 hours of interrogation. What 2 common-laws on voluntariness were breached in this example?

Answer 18

Lack of an Operating Mind;

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Atmosphere of Oppression

Question 19

Scenario - Officer Salsari has a suspect in custody who he believes is guilty of arson. The suspect, Calvin, is suspected of starting fires in the apartment building he manages with his wife, Helen. Officer Salsari tells Calvin that if he confesses to starting the fires, they will go easy on his wife. What is this an example of?

Answer 19

Hope of Advantage

Question 20

Scenario - Amanda and Jeff were driving home after dinner one night. Jeff was driving and Amanda was in the passenger seat. Jeff lost control of his car and swerved into oncoming traffic. He was killed instantly and the driver and passenger in the car he hit were also killed. Amanda was injured but still alive. Based on eyewitness accounts of Jeff’s erratic driving, the police suspected that Jeff might have been intoxicated. Immediately following the accident, officers questioned Amanda about how many drinks they had consumed that evening. Amanda was visibly upset and appeared to be in shock while they questioned her, but she did say that they had been drinking at dinner. When this case went to trial months later, the judge deemed Amanda’s statements inadmissible in court. Which common-law on voluntariness was breached in this example?

Answer 20

Lack of an Operating Mind

Question 21

Scenario - Donny is being questioned about his possible role in an armed robbery. The investigator tells Donny that if he doesn’t confess to the crime, he will be held in police custody and won’t be allowed to see his wife who is waiting for him at the police station. What is this an example of?

Answer 21

Fear of Prejudice

Question 22

Scenario - Detectives Rodriguez and Smyth have been working a homicide case for 5 weeks without catching a break. A young woman named Althea was brutally raped and murdered in her apartment late one night. The suspect wore a condom and carefully cleaned the body and crime scene leaving no physical evidence behind. After diligent detective work, they finally discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Sammy had been released from prison 2 days before the murder and that when he was in prison he had told his cell mate that he planned to go see Althea when he was released. Based on interviews with Althea’s friends and family members the detectives discovered that Althea had played a role in Sammy’s incarceration and that Sammy had found that out while in prison. They bring Sammy in for questioning but he won’t answer any of their questions and eventually asks for a lawyer. The detectives are sure Sammy is responsible for murdering Althea and they decide to get a fellow officer to impersonate a public defender. They send this “public defender” in to speak with Sammy and Sammy confesses to raping and murdering Althea. When this case went to trial months later, the judge deemed Sammy’s confession inadmissible in court. Which common-law on voluntariness was breached in this example?

Answer 22

Police Trickery

Question 23

Quiz - Police officers should build rapport with witnesses in order to make them feel more comfortable during the interview. True/False

Answer 23

True

Building rapport is an important task for police officers to undertake when interviewing a witness.

Question 24

Quiz - During an interview, what is the best type of question to ask a witness?

a) forced-choice
b) open-ended
c) leading
d) specific-closed

Answer 24

Open-ended

Question 25

Quiz - During an interview, what is the worst type of question to ask a witness?

a) forced-choice
b) open-ended
c) leading
d) specific-closed

Answer 25

Leading

Question 26

Quiz - According to Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,

a) detained people, but not arrested people have the right to remain silent.
b) the police are not allowed to continue with the interrogation if detainees invoke their right to remain silent.
c) if detainees invoke to right to remain silent but make statements while in detention, those statements are admissible as evidence.
d) none of the above

Answer 26

If detainees invoke to right to remain silent but make statements while in detention, those statements are admissible as evidence

Question 27

Quiz - Before incriminating statements can be admitted as evidence at trial, the Crown must prove that

a) the statements were not obtained as a result of fear of prejudice.
b) the statements were not obtained as a result of hope of advantage.
c) the statements were not made in an atmosphere of oppression.
d) all of the above

Answer 27

All of the above

Question 28

Quiz - Incriminating statements will not be admissible if the statement is made by someone who does not have “an operating mind,” whereby operating mind refers to

a) having a higher degree of awareness than knowledge of what the accused is saying.
b) having an average or above average intelligence.
c) not being under the influence of drugs, alcohol, hypnosis, or shock.
d) all of the above

Answer 28

Not being under the influence of drugs, alcohol, hypnosis, or shock.

Question 29

Quiz - Costanzo (2004) suggested a number of reasons for why suspects waive their right to remain silent, including:

a) the possibility that detectives subtly threaten suspects to talk.
b) the possibility that detectives strongly emphasize the importance of the rights and suspects think that the detective has something to hide.
c) the possibility that guilty suspects don’t want to appear uncooperative.
d) all of the above

Answer 29

The possibility that guilty suspects don’t want to appear uncooperative.

Question 30

Quiz - ____________ refers to the interrogations use of “scare tactics” designed to intimidate a suspect into a confession.

a) Maximization
b) Minimization
c) Coercion
d) Use of force

Answer 30

Maximization

Question 31

Quiz - _____________________ false confessions occur when innocent suspects who are tired and highly suggestible come to believe they committed the crime.

a) Voluntary
b) Coerced-compliant
c) Coerced-internalized
d) Delusional

Answer 31

Coerced-Internalized

Question 32

Quiz - In Gudjonsson’s Suggestibility Scales, the two personal characteristics assessed are:

a) compliance and suggestibility
b) compliance with requests and susceptibility to pressure
c) yield and shift
d) yield and suggestibility

Answer 32

Compliance and suggestibility

Question 33

Maximization

Answer 33

An interrogation technique in which in an interrogator uses “scare tactic” designed to intimidate a suspect into a confession.

Maximization implies a threat of extreme punishment. Some examples of maximization are exaggerating the gravity of the offense, overstating the quality of the evidence and increasing the magnitude of the charges. Investigators may also falsify the magnitude of the charges to try and elicit a denial. For example, they might accuse the suspect of stealing $5000 when only $2500 was taken..

Question 34

Minimization

Answer 34

An interrogation technique in which an interrogator gives a suspect a false sense of security by offering face-saving excuses or moral justification, blaming a victim or accomplice, or playing down the seriousness of the charges.

Minimization is the exact opposite of maximization. This tactic involves downplaying the seriousness of the crime, offering sympathy to the accused, face-saving excuses or moral justification of the act. The investigator might say things such as “I’ve been lots of other people in the same situation” or “You probably did this on the spur of the moment.” They might also tell the suspect that they won’t receive jail time for the offense. Minimization implies a promise of leniency for the crime.

Question 35

PEACE Approach

Answer 35

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Question 36

Reid Technique

Answer 36

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