Interview and Interrogation
Law Enforcement II
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Legal Requirements
for an Interview
 Miranda v. Arizona
 Miranda was arrested at his home and taken to a police
station for questioning in connection with a kidnapping
and a rape
 He was 23 years old, poor and completed only half of the
ninth grade
 Officers interrogated him for two hours, resulting in a
written confession
 Miranda was convicted of kidnapping and rape
 The issue was this, must police inform a person subjected
to custodial interrogation of his/her constitutional rights
involving self-incrimination and the right to counsel prior
to questioning
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Legal Requirements
for an Interview (continued)
 The Supreme Court’s decision
 Was based on the 5th and 6th amendment
requirements
 Stated that evidence obtained by the
police during custodial interrogation
cannot be used in court unless the
subject was informed of the Miranda
rights prior to interrogation
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Legal Requirements
for an Interview (continued)
 Miranda Warning (rights)
 The right to remain silent
 Any statement made may be used in a court of
law
 The right to have an attorney present during the
questioning
 If the subject cannot afford an attorney, one will
be –appointed for him or her prior to
questioning
 The right to terminate the interview at anytime
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Types of
People to Interview
 Victims and witnesses
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Determine if an offense has occurred
Select the correct offense title
Identify the suspect as fully as possible
Obtain any information that might be pertinent to a
follow-up investigation
 Witnesses (the same criteria as victims)
 Suspects – to gather information for the
interrogation
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Strategies for Interview
and Interrogation
 Know what information you have and what
information you need to obtain from the suspect
 Establish rapport by asking questions unrelated to
the case
 Keep the subject talking and allow him or her to tell
his or her own story
 Direct questions toward establishing the validity of
witness/suspect statements
 Direct questions toward establishing the facts of
the incident
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Strategies for Interview
and Interrogation (continued)
 Confront suspects with any discrepancies
with known facts
 Avoid closed (yes or no) questions –
instead have subjects explain their answers
 Avoid rapid fire questions to allow the
subject time to answer
 Avoid leading or suggestive questions
 Control your emotions, be patient, or pass
the subject onto another officer
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Factors for Success
 Prepare for the interrogation
 Setting and environmental concerns
 It is crucial for the interrogator to control not only the
physical environment of an interrogation, but also the
subject being interrogated and the topic of discussion
 The setting of an interrogation is also very important
 The interrogation area should be a small, empty room
with minimal furniture and no distractions
 The room should be sound-insulated to avoid unwanted
noise
 You may only have one shot at a confession
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Factors for Success
(continued)
 Prepare for the interrogation (continued)
 Knowledge of case facts
 It is essential that the interrogator know as many
facts of the case as possible, including how the crime
was committed
 Many times if you can tell the suspect how the crime
was committed, they will tell you the reason it was
committed
 This technique is somewhat risky because the
interrogator will lose credibility with the suspect if he
or she provides facts that have not yet been proven
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Factors for Success
(continued)
 Prepare for the interrogation (continued)
 Familiarity with suspect’s background
 Knowledge of the suspect’s history is important in an
interrogation
 If you understand a suspect’s feelings, attitudes, and
personal values, you stand a greater chance of
success
 Oftentimes suspects will confess because of emotions
or defend themselves with logic
 Understanding the suspect’s goals and needs helps
you to obtain a confession
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Factors for Success
(continued)
 Determine Whether to Use an Interview or Interrogation
 Interviews
 Occur prior to an interrogation
 Are used by investigators to learn information about the
suspects, including fears, concerns, and attitudes which may
later be useful in the interrogation
 Consist of questions about the subject themselves, the
crime, and others that might have been involved
 Help investigators identify verbal and nonverbal behaviors
exhibited by the suspects
 Help build rapport and establish common ground
 Used to determine if the need for an interrogation exists
 Are used to gather information
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Factors for Success
(continued)
 Determine Whether to Use an Interview or
Interrogation (continued)
 Interrogations
 Processes that bring the investigation to a close
 Statements obtained during the interview are
used to confront the suspect(s)
 Controlled by the investigators, they do not take
notes, since they should have obtained all the
information needed during the interview
 Their ultimate goal is to obtain a truthful
admission or a confession
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Factors for Success
(continued)
 Document the Confession
 Take care of the details prior to beginning the
interrogation
 The interrogators risk being unsuccessful if they
have to stop to take care of paperwork, change
audio tapes, etc.
 Audio and video recordings should always occur
during an interrogation (oral statement)
 Have the suspect write a statement and sign it so
that, in case the audio and video fail, there is still
evidence admissible in court (written statement)
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Legal Requirements for
Conducting Interrogations
 The officer’s duty is to warn the suspect
who is in custody of his or her rights prior
to obtaining a statement
 Oral Statements (Criminal Code of Procedure
(CCP) Article 38.22 section 3a)
 A res gestae statement is admissible
 Used to establish guilt
 Made in open court
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Legal Requirements for
Conducting Interrogations
(continued)
 Written Statements (CCP Article 38.22
section 1 and 2)
 Record information from person involved
 Make notes during the interview – review and
correct them with the suspect
 Write or type the statement in the suspect’s own
words
 Enter the statement as evidence
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Qualifications
of an Interrogator
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Patience
Self-confidence
Adaptability
Correct attitude
Alertness
Courtesy
Tactfulness
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Kinetic Interview
and Interrogation
 No single behavior by itself proves
anything
 Deceptive behaviors are diagnosed in
clusters (two or more signals
appearing at the same time)
 Behaviors that are significant are
those that are inconsistent when
stimuli are repeated
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Kinetic Interview
and Interrogation
(continued)
 65% Body
Language
 7% Verbal
 12% Voice Quality
 16% Miscellaneous
Symptoms
(Hamilton 2001)
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Kinetic Interview
and Interrogation
(continued)
 Symptoms are easier to decipher when the
subject is not in control of his or her
communication flow; they do not have a
prepared line of thought
 The interviewer must identify a baseline for
the subject’s normal behavior and then look
for changes
 Changes in behavior will be timely about 3
to 5 seconds after the critical stimulus
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Kinetic Interview
and Interrogation
(continued)
 Deceptions should not be pointed out to the
subject
 Conduct a reality check. Do the facts of the
case fit the behavior exhibited?
 The observing and interpreting of human
kinetic behavior is hard work
 It’s easier for a person to control his or her
verbal kinetic signals than his or her
nonverbal signals
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Kinetic Interview
and Interrogation
(continued)
 Deceptive persons are 90% more likely to
experience speech dysfunction than
truthful persons (Hamilton 2001). Speech
dysfunction occurs because the person is
unable to maintain a clear line of thought
 A total lack of body movement is as
unnatural as excessive body movement
 Look for body language that is inconsistent
with the suspect’s speech
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Stress Responses
 Anger
 This response is used to gain control. Do not get
pulled into a subject’s anger; it results in closure
 Forms of anger are covert, focused, and rage
 Depression
 The opposite form of anger, or anger turned inward
 Interviewers should empathize with depression and
pull out the negative comments
 Reactive behavior, person speaks of feeling
depression, health problems, trouble with personal
life, etc.
 Blames the issue at hand for causing problems
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Stress Responses
(continued)
 Denial
 The rejection of reality
 When discussing critical areas,
deceptive subjects have more
frequent occurrences of memory
failure then honest people
 More than 90% of deceptive behavior
is presented in denial (Hamilton 2001)
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Stress Responses
(continued)
 Denial (continued)
 Symptoms
 Memory lapse – focus the subject’s attention on the
inability to recall
 Denial flag expressions – may preface a deceptive
comment
 Modifiers – used to respond to questions but really
devaluate the answer
 Guilt phrases
 Stalling mechanisms – create time to formulate an
answer
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Stress Responses
(continued)
 Bargaining
 The disguise of reality
 Examples are complaints for sympathy,
minimizing, religious remarks, and
excessive courtesy
 Acceptance
 Submission to the truth
 Punishment statements and third person
statements are common
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Interrogation Strategies
 Emotion dominant
 Slow and chronological
 Personalize everything, building the
case a piece at a time
 Sensory dominant
 Move quickly and get to the point
 Be objective and do not bluff
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Interrogation Strategies
(continued)
 Logic dominant
 Logical and accurate
 Link each piece of evidence and expect
little feedback
 Ego dominant
 Feed the ego
 Blame everyone else
 Use case facts only to impeach
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Confession Signals
 Stop talking and start listening
 Show acceptance and give the
subject a way out
 Use common sense and do not
promise things over which you
have no control
 Remember to be courteous and
patient
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Resources
 Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education (TCLEOSE) Investigator’s Course
http://www.tcleose.state.tx.us/
 Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and the Family Code
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/
 Officer’s Interrogation Handbook, Matthews Bender & Company,
Inc., Charlottesville, 2004
 Hamilton, Cheryl. Communicating for Results. Wadsworth,
Thomson Learning. U.S., 2001
 Do Internet search using the following key terms:
 Gastonia Officer Shot Witness Interview Part 2
 Nathan’s Interrogation Video
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