Innocent of the crime under investigation: suspects’ counter-interrogation strategies and statement-evidence inconsistency in strategic vs. non-strategic interviews

ABSTRACT

The study examines the counter-interrogation strategies applied by mock suspects (N?=?94), who are innocent of a mock crime under investigation but who were present at the scene, for different reasons, at around the time the crime occurred. Half were present at the crime scene to carry out a lawful act, the other half to carry out an unlawful act. Furthermore, this study examines the effect of the Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) technique as a strategic interviewing technique (vs. a non-strategic technique), on suspects’ statement-evidence inconsistencies. Participants were randomly assigned to the two interview conditions (strategic vs. non-strategic) and were interviewed as suspects of a crime, which none of them had committed. The results show that the most commonly used counter-interrogation strategy in both groups was to be honest. However, 26.1% of the innocent suspects, performing an unlawful act, reported the strategy to be deceptive. In addition, the statements of suspects executing an unlawful act were significantly more inconsistent with the evidence in the strategic than the non-strategic interview condition. The increased statement-evidence inconsistency rates potentially put these suspects at risk of being assessed as guilty of a crime they did not commit.     

证据制度的调整对我国侦查制度的影响——以新《刑事诉讼法》为视阈

新《刑事诉讼法》对证据制度进行了较大幅度的修改。证据裁判理念正深入人心．侦查人员应强化证据意识、更新侦查理念。非法证据排除规则已经确立,取证行为规范化将成为关注的焦点。证据的概念、种类和范围的调整,行政证据的合法化,以及立法对过去侦查实践的肯定,使得侦查办案模式惯性发展不可避免：明文规定侦查人员有出庭作证的义务,对侦查人员的素质提出了新挑战;不自证其罪和如实供述的矛盾并存,侦查机关需要尊重和顺应法律价值变化的潮流。切实保障人权。     

Aviation security and terrorism

Abstract

The author asserts that a sophisticated sabotage threat to U.S. international civil aviation has been well known to the U.S. government and air carriers since the early 1980s. He believes that both the U.S. government and air carriers have failed to do enough to counter this sabotage threat. He cites the findings of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism (May 1990), and the enactment of the Aviation Security Improvement Act (Nov. 1990) to support his beliefs. The author concludes by providing a recipe for corrective action.     

试析侦办交通肇事案件中测谎技术之运用

交通肇事案件侦办实例说明,运用传统侦查方法侦办此类案件有一定的局限性,而运用测谎技术则有其独特的作用。测谎原理满足和平获取口供的需要,交通肇事案件中运用测谎技术成功率也较高。在运用测谎技术成功侦办交通肇事案件过程中,要善于捕捉谈话信息、巧妙收集背景资料、准确抓住心理焦点、合理搭建心理台阶、熟练把握转变时机,同时要注意保证被测人意识清醒和减少＂翻供＂的可能性。     

Measuring the impact of forensic science in detecting burglary and autocrime offences

As UK investment in forensic science has increased, the government has taken a fresh interest in how far this has led to dividends in terms of the detection of crime and its reduction. The Home Office funded 'Pathfinder Project' sought to monitor and document the complex relationships between the collection and use of forensic material (looking at a range of forensic science techniques) and its impact on crime detection. The project specifically targeted the 'volume' crimes of burglary and vehicle crime. Detailed data was gathered on all stages of the process between the collection and use of forensic material and crime detection. The model falls into two conceptual phases--scene attendance to suspect identification and identification to detection. From the analysis it was found that approximately one third of burglary and autocrime scenes are visited by SOCOs. While scientific identifications are only made in a minority of burglary and autocrime offences overall, it belies their importance. About one in ten of burglary and autocrime cases are cleared up by the police and it is estimated that fingerprints and SGMPlus were a contributory factor in achieving one third of these clear ups.     

建立农村社会保障制度的路径选择

建立我国农村社会保障制度首先是要以政府财政投入为主体,以省为单位,建立农村最低生活保障制度。然后,从经济发达地区起步,在全新的基础上开展农村社会养老保险工作,并以大病统筹为重点,建立不同类型的农村合作医疗制度。同时,还应把失地农民和进城农民工纳入城镇社保的范围。     

Is Differentiation of Frequently Encountered Foreign Bodies in Corpses Possible by Hounsfield Density Measurement?

Abstract:  The radiological determination of foreign objects in corpses can be difficult if they are fragmented or deformed. With multislice computed tomography, radiodensities—referred to as Hounsfield units (HU)—can be measured. We examined the possibility of differentiating 21 frequently occurring foreign bodies, such as metals, rocks, and different manmade materials by virtue of their HU values. Gold, steel, and brass showed mean HU values of 30671–30710 (upper measurable limit), mean HU values for steel, silver, copper, and limestone were 20346, 16949, 14033, and 2765, respectively. The group consisting of objects, such as aluminum, tarmac, car front-window glass, and other rocks, displayed mean HU values of 2329–2131 HU. The mean HU value of bottle glass and car side-window glass was 2088, whereas windowpane glass was 493. HU value determination may therefore help in preautopsy differentiation between case-relevant and irrelevant foreign bodies and thus be useful for autopsy planning and extraction of the objects in question.     

The Reliability of Lie Detection Performance

We examined whether individuals’ ability to detect deception remained stable over time. In two sessions, held one week apart, university students viewed video clips of individuals and attempted to differentiate between the lie-tellers and truth-tellers. Overall, participants had difficulty detecting all types of deception. When viewing children answering yes–no questions about a transgression (Experiments 1 and 5), participants’ performance was highly reliable. However, rating adults who provided truthful or fabricated accounts did not produce a significant alternate forms correlation (Experiment 2). This lack of reliability was not due to the types of deceivers (i.e., children versus adults) or interviews (i.e., closed-ended questions versus extended accounts) (Experiment 3). Finally, the type of deceptive scenario (naturalistic vs. experimentally-manipulated) could not account for differences in reliability (Experiment 4). Theoretical and legal implications are discussed.     

吗啡依赖戒断大鼠部分脑区PSD-95免疫组化观察

目的观察不同时程吗啡依赖戒断大鼠部分脑区PSD-95的免疫组化染色,探讨其在吗啡依赖戒断中的作用。方法采用腹腔递增注射盐酸吗啡的方法建立吗啡依赖1周、2周和4周模型,自然戒断后,观察海马、纹状体、杏仁核、额叶皮质、腹侧背盖区PSD-95的免疫组织化学反应,用图像分析系统对免疫组化结果进行分析。结果模型组与生理盐水对照组相比,差异具有统计学意义（P〈0．01）。海马、纹状体PSD-95的含量随依赖时间的延长表现为先降后升再降,而在杏仁核、额叶皮质、腹侧背盖区,则随依赖时间的延长,表现为先升高再逐渐降低。各组问两两比较,结果均具有高度显著性差异（P〈0．01）。结论在不同脑区不同戒断时间PSD-95免疫组化变化不同,提示部分脑区可能参与了吗啡的戒断记忆。