07/15/2008Canada Supreme Court rules that police are not immune from liability under the law of negligence
In the case of Hill v. Hamilton‑Wentworth Regional Police Services Board (2007) the Canada Supreme Court ruled that:
  1. The police are not immune from liability under the law of negligence and the tort of negligent investigation exists in Canada.
  2. Police officers owe a duty of care to suspects. Their conduct during an investigation should be measured against the standard of how a reasonable officer in like circumstances would have acted. Police officers may be accountable for harm resulting to a suspect if they fail to meet this standard.
This was not an interrogation case but focused on the way photo lineups were conducted.  It points out the importance of properly obtaining confessions in all cases.
Click here for full article
07/01/2008New article on the BAI published in the International Journal of Police Science & Management
Joseph Buckley (president of John E. Reid and Associates), Frank Horvath (professor emeritus, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University) and J. P. Blair (assistant professor of criminal justice at Texas State University) co-authored an article on the BAI entitled, The Behavioural analysis interview: clarifying the practice, theory and understanding of its use and effectiveness. Here is the abstract:

The Behavioural Analysis Interview (BAI) is the only questioning method that has been developed specifically to help investigators sort those who are likely to be 'guilty' from those who are not. In its typical application the BAI is a pre-interrogation interview that is used to focus interrogational effort; however, it also can be used independently in order to circumscribe investigative efforts in those cases in which there is a fixed and relatively large number of 'suspects'. In this paper an overview of the BAI process is provided and the findings and limitations of the extant bodies of field and laboratory research on the BAI are discussed. The paper concludes with suggestions to guide future research on the BAI.
Click here for full article
07/01/2008Investigators Tip: July-August 2008
Investigators rely extensively on their verbal communication skills to elicit information during an interview and to persuade a suspect to tell the truth during an interrogation. It is often beneficial to reinforce verbal communication with visual aids...
The use of Visual Aids During an Interview or Interrogation
06/03/2008Article reviews false confession cases
In an article entitled, "The Problem of False Confessions in the Post-DNA World" authors Steven Drizin and Richard Leo analyze 125 false confession cases.
Click here for the complete articles
05/22/2008Article describes how criminal defense attorneys should attack confession cases
In their publication, Champion magazine, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have published an article entitled, Defending Unrecorded False Confession Cases, in which the author presents a detailed approach for how defense attorneys should challenge confessions:

"Challenging a confession -- both in motion hearings before a judge and to a jury once a suppression motion has been denied -- is an essential skill for any criminal defense lawyer. Because confessions are powerful evidence that leads courts and juries to convict clients, and because law enforcement invests a lot in obtaining confessions in the most serious cases, every criminal defense lawyer must learn how to best defend these cases."
click here for full article
05/12/2008Announcing The 2008 Reid Conference for Investigative Training
The 2008 Reid Conference will be held in Oak Brook, Illinois from September 29th to October 1. The following topics and speakers are tentatively scheduled:

Identifying Micro-Facial Expressions presented by Paul Ekman, Ph.D. Paul Ekman Group

Major Causes of Investigative Failures presented by D. Kim Rossmo, Research Professor Texas State University

Geographic Profiling of Criminal Predators presented by D. Kim Rossmo, Research Professor Texas State University

Anticipating Courtroom Challenges to a Nine-Step Interrogation presented by Philip A. Mullenix, Attorney at Law

The Importance of Using Case Facts in Determining Truth or Deception presented by J. Pete Blair, PhD Texas State University

Investigating Child Abuse Injuries presented by Robert H. Farley, Detective Cook County Sheriff's Department, retired.

The cost for the 3-day Conference is $275.00 for Reid Institute members and $375.00 for non-members. Additional information about the topics and speakers will be posted on our web site. The Conference will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Oak Brook, Illinois. To register for the Conference please call 800-255-5747, extension 12 or 24.
Click here for more information
05/07/2008PoliceOne.com publishes two new Reid articles
In their Street Survival Newsline newsletter PoliceOne.com has published to recent articles by Reid staff: Understanding and Investigating Child Physical Abuse by Robert H. Farley, and Murder: Anatomy of Interrogation Theme Selection and Development by Louis Senese.
Click here for the complete articles
05/07/2008 Reid Institute Members - Two new Canadian Columns are available: "Prosper Warning: Part 1" and "Prosper Warning: Part 2"
By Gino Arcaro B.Sc., M.Ed

I. Executive Summary
It is a common occurrence for an arrested person to invoke the right to counsel by asking to consult with a lawyer then change his mind and waive the right before consulting with a lawyer. When this happens, the police have a mandatory obligation to read the "Prosper Warning" to the arrested person before interrogating him. Since the inception of the "Prosper Warning" in 1994, a string of case law derivatives have emerged including two recent decisions by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in R. v. Basko (2007)[1] and R. v. Weeseekase (2007)[2].

Both cases include:
  1. important points-of-reference for frontline police officers, and
  2. significant case law review for research purposes.
Prosper Warning Part 1 explains the Basko point-of-reference circumstances and its derivative cases. Part 2 will explain the Weeseekase point-of-reference and its derivative cases including how Basko is applied.
Click here for compete article
03/10/2008Street Crimes seminar now part of GSA contract
John E. Reid and Associates is pleased to announce that our Street Crimes seminar is now part of our GSA contract. Personnel from all federal agencies can now attend the Street Crimes seminar at the GSA rate of $300 per person - a savings of $95 from the standard rate.
For details on the Street Crimes program please click here.
03/09/2008 Reid Institute Members - The new Canadian Column is entitled, "Act on your suspicions: The Section 24(2) Charter pendulum
This case law decision involves a frontline interrogation relative to a vehicle search that violated s. 8 Charter, resulted in a large drug seizure, and the admission of the drugs as evidence because of a paradigm shift in the way s. 24(2) Charter was applied by the Court. This case not only marks a common sense change in the application of s. 24(2) Charter, it is a point-of-reference case that applies s. 24(2) Charter the way it was intended.

Although this case does not directly involve a formal interrogation and confession, the ruling is significant because it will likely affect how s. 24(2) Charter will be applied in the future to the admissibility of any evidence. The derivative cases that may emerge will be monitored to determine the long-term effects, if any, on the admissibility of confessions.
Click Here for complete article
02/24/2008Reid Institute Members - The new Canadian Column is entitled,
I.Review of Singh

This case is a derivative of the landmark right to silence decision released three months ago, in R. v. Singh (2007) SCC.

To briefly review the key points: In November, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada made the following major ruling, in R. v. Singh (2007) regarding the right to silence: A police officer may continue to question an arrested person who has invoked the right to remain silent.

Five key points emerge from this rule:
  1. Invoking the right to silence does not automatically end an interrogation.
  2. It is not a sec. 7 Charter violation for the police to ignore an arrested person's right to remain silent and to persuade the accused to change his mind.
  3. Considerable persistent questioning is allowed after the right to silence is invoked.
  4. The police are entitled to continue questioning after the right to silence is invoked "so long as their conduct does not reach the point where the suspect's will is overborne and his statement is no longer voluntary." An "overborne will" is defined as being "deprived of an operating mind." It means incapable of making meaningful decisions - the free will to make choices. In other words, as long as the accused has an operating mind and has decision-making capacity, "persistent" interrogation may continue.
  5. A sec. 7 Charter violation occurs only if an arrested person invokes the right to remain silent and the police interrogation techniques cause the arrested person to lose his decision-making capacity. In Canada, an interrogation must stop only when the suspect's operating mind is deprived - when he loses the ability to make sound decisions.

Click here for the complete article.
02/11/2008Reid Institute Members - The new Canadian Column is entitled, "Young Offender Confessions: 'right' versus 'required'.
Reid Institute Members - The new Canadian Column is entitled, "Young Offender Confessions: 'right' versus 'required'. By Gino Arcaro B.Sc., M.Ed

I. sec. 146(2)(b)(iv) and sec. 146(6) YCJA

Among the numerous controversies surrounding young offender laws is the admissibility of young offender confessions. One of the interrogation issues centers on how to properly instruct a young offender about waiving the presence of a third party consultant, in accordance with sec. 146(2)(b)(iv)Youth Criminal Justice Act. Another related issue is what constitutes a "technical irregularity" under sec. 146(6) YCJA.

Three laws govern the admissibility of young offender confessions and statements:
  1. common law "confession rule" relating to voluntariness
  2. Charter provisions including right to silence, right to counsel, reason for arrest and sec. 24(2)
  3. Statutory protections created by the Youth Criminal Justice Act, including section 146 YCJA.
The first two laws apply to both adult and young offenders. The third law applies only to young offenders, increasing the complexity of young offender confession admissibility.
Click here for full article
02/11/2008Legal Updates for February 2008
We have reviewed 9 cases that relate to such issues as the interrogator referring to religion during the interrogation; misrepresenting evidence during the interrogation; ambiguous requests for an attorney; the value of video recording interrogation; and 4 court decisions that reject experts' testimony of the issue of false confessions.
Click here for the details on these cases.
Click Here to view earlier "What's New"