Non-biased lineup instructions do matter – a problem for older witnesses

Abstract

From the limited literature on older witnesses’ identification performance it is known that they are less accurate on lineups compared to younger witnesses. What is less certain is why they show this age deficit and what can be done to aid their performance. Witnesses forgot being given non-biased lineup instructions informing witnesses that the perpetrator may or may not be present. More older witnesses than younger witnesses forgot and witnesses who failed to report remembering these instructions were significantly less accurate on the lineups. In addition, the current study investigated the use of sequential lineup presentation and stringent decision criteria to aid the performance of older witnesses. Sequential presentation was beneficial to both younger and older adults when the lineup was target absent (TA) but was detrimental when the lineup was target present (TP). Stringent decision criteria had no significant beneficial effect. Future directions for aiding older witnesses’ performance are discussed.     

Mock jurors’ perceptions of a child witness: the impact of the presence and/or intervention of a registered intermediary during cross-examination

ABSTRACT

In recent years Registered Intermediaries (RIs) have been involved in facilitating communication in children's investigative interviews and trial proceedings. Their presence and interventions are generally deemed to have a positive impact on child engagement, but their impact on jury appraisal of evidence, during cross-examination is unclear. This study addressed this issue in a more ecologically valid context than that previously used. Adult mock juror participants (N?=?217) watched a video-recording of a mock cross-examination of a child witness in which a RI was present or absent, and in which RI type interventions were either included or omitted. The participants rated the quality of the cross-examination and the child's responses in relation to child credibility, child understanding, legal professional's behaviour, and trial progression. Findings indicated that RI presence or absence, and inclusion or omission of interventions had no effect on mock juror ratings. However, an interaction between these variables demonstrated that mock jurors rated trial progression towards a guilty verdict according to which court professional did, or did, not intervene. The findings also demonstrated that mock jurors based their assessment of trial progression towards a guilty verdict on the evidence presented, and that child understanding per se was irrelevant.     

Using the cognitive interview with adults with mild learning disabilities

Abstract

Forty-seven adults with mild learning disabilities (mild intellectual disabilities) attending day-centres and thirty-eight adults from the general population viewed a videorecording of an accident. A day later the participants were interviewed using either a cognitive interview (CI) or a structured interview (SI, a control interview). Compared with their counterparts with learning disabilities, adults from the general population recalled more correct information and made fewer confabulations about persons and objects. Nevertheless, the type of interview had an impact. For both groups, the CI was more effective than the SI in enhancing recall although, for the ‘learning disabilities’ group, the CI also produced a disproportionate increase in the reporting of person confabulations. All the same, the accuracy ratios were similar across interview types (80% for the CI and 82% for the SI). It is suggested that the CI could be helpful in assisting people with learning disabilities to provide information about events they have seen.     

对法不容情的批判性解读——以容隐制度与亲属拒证权为视角

通过对中国的容隐制度和西方的亲属拒证权进行考察发现,亲属容隐制度与西方大多数国家所规定的亲属拒证权有着共同的价值基础。虽然这项制度在建国后被当作封建消极的东西予以摒弃,但是在当代中国仍有其存在的合理性,而且具有回归的现实基础,应当在立法中重新设立这一制度。对“法不容情”应作批判性的解读。     

论刑事诉讼中听证的构建

本文简要介绍了听证制度的产生、发展以及我国听证制度发展的现状,并从刑事诉讼中存在的问题、听证在刑事诉讼中的存在价值、听证与刑事诉讼的契合性等角度指出在刑事诉讼中构建听证的必要性与可行性,最后指出了刑事诉讼中构建听证的范围、听证的参加人、听证时间以及应注意的问题。     

刑事程序中法官与鉴定人事实认知的冲突

当今时代科技与法律的关系尤为密切,在刑事诉讼中表现为具备最终事实认定权的法官日益面临着鉴定人科技知识的挑战,因而其事实认知权存在被分享的危险.对于这一问题人们关注甚少,面对该困境法官应通过如下策略对之回应:对鉴定人可靠性进行审查;加快鉴定人及其机构之间的竞争、进行适当的责任追究来保证鉴定人作出可靠的鉴定结论;通过程序处理疑难的科学鉴定.     

Differences in personality and mental state between suspects and witnesses immediately after being interviewed by the police

Abstract

There is increased recognition that people interviewed by the police are often psychologically vulnerable due to modest intelligence, mental health problems, disturbed mental state, and personality problems. The current study aimed to investigate differences in the mental state and personality between suspects and witnesses. The participants were 78 individuals (47 suspects and 31 witnesses) who had been interviewed by the Icelandic police. They were assessed psychologically immediately after the interview with the police was completed. Significant differences emerged between the two groups with the suspects being more depressed, hopeless, compliant and personality disordered than the witnesses. Four of the suspects claimed to have made a false confession to the police due to their immediate need or psychological problems.     

Getting the story from child witnesses: exploring the application of a story grammar framework

Abstract

Investigative interviews with children about alleged abuse were analysed to determine the degree to which the child's responses adhered to a story grammar framework, and whether the presence of story grammar elements was associated with interviewers’ adherence to best-practice (i.e. open-ended) questioning. The sample included 51 interviews with child witnesses from across Australia. The interviews were administered by a police officer with children (37 girls and 14 boys) aged 3–16 years (M age = 103.82 months, SD = 34.21 months). The interviewers’ questions were categorised as open-ended or specific and the children's responses were classified as a story grammar element, context/background information, or ‘don't know’ responses. The majority of interviewer questions were specific in nature and the majority of children's responses were context/background details. Open-ended questions were more successful in eliciting story grammar from children. Of the story grammar elements, the interviewers’ specific questions usually targeted setting and attempt details. These findings suggest that improvement in the narrative coherence of children's reports of abusive events can potentially be achieved by increasing interviewers’ use of open-ended questions.     

Own-age bias in video lineups: a comparison between children and adults

Abstract

The present study investigated whether child (six–eight years of age) and adult witnesses (18–29 years of age) would exhibit an own-age bias when trying to identify targets from video lineups. One hundred and eighty-six participants viewed two filmed events that were identical, except one starred a child target and one a young adult. After a delay of two–three days each witness saw a lineup for the child and adult target. Children exhibited an own-age bias and were better at correctly identifying the own-age target from a target-present (TP) lineup and made more correct rejections for the own-age target-absent (TA) lineup. Adults however, showed a reversed own-age bias for the TP lineups as they made more correct identifications for the child target, but exhibited no bias for the TA lineups. The results suggest that differences in identification accuracy may be due to whether witness age and suspect age overlap.