Chapter 16
Interviewing Witnesses
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Learning Objectives
• List the five types of interview questions.
• Understand how to ask introductory
questions.
• Explain how to construct informational
questions.
• Understand the differences between open,
closed, and leading questions.
• Explain how to close an interview.
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Learning Objectives
• Define and explain the purpose of
assessment questions.
• List some nonverbal clues to deception.
• List some verbal clues to deception.
• Discuss the methodology of admissionseeking questions.
• List the elements of a signed statement.
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Interviewing Questions
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Introductory
Informational
Assessment
Closing
Admission-seeking
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Introductory Questions
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Provides an introduction
Establishes rapport
Establishes the theme of the interviews
Observes the person’s reactions
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General Rules for
Introductory Questions
• Don’t interview more than one person at a time
• Conduct interviews under conditions of privacy
• Ask nonsensitive questions
Instead of:
Investigation
Audit
Interview
Embezzlement
Use:
Inquiry
Review
Ask a few questions
Shortage or paperwork problems
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General Rules for
Introductory Questions
• Get a commitment for assistance
• Make a transitional statement
• Seek continuous agreement
• Do not promise confidentiality
• Negotiations
• Discussing the source of allegations
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Informational Questions
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Open questions
Closed questions
Leading questions
Question sequences
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Informational Question
Techniques
• Begin by asking questions that are not likely to cause the
respondent to become defensive or hostile.
• Ask the questions in a manner that will develop the facts in
the order of their occurrence, or in some other systematic
order.
• Ask only one question at a time, and frame the question so
that only one answer is required.
• Ask straightforward and frank questions; generally avoid
shrewd approaches.
• Keep interruptions to a minimum, and do not stop the
subject’s narrative without good reason.
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Informational Question
Techniques
• Give the respondent ample time to answer; do not rush the
respondent.
• Try to help the respondent remember, but do not suggest
answers; be careful not to imply any particular answer by facial
expressions, gestures, methods of asking questions, or types of
questions asked.
• Repeat or rephrase questions, if necessary, to get the desired
facts.
• Be sure you understand the answers, and if they are not perfectly
clear, have the subject interpret them at that time instead of
saving this for later.
• Give the subject an opportunity to qualify his/her answers.
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Informational Question
Techniques
• Separate facts from inferences.
• Have the subject give comparisons by percentages,
fractions, estimates of time and distance, and other such
methods to ensure accuracy.
• After the respondent has given a narrative account, ask
follow-up questions about every key issue that has been
discussed.
• Upon conclusion of the direct questioning, ask the
respondent to summarize the information given; then
summarize the facts, and have the respondent verify that
these conclusions are correct.
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Methodology
Informational Phase
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Begin with background questions
Observe verbal and nonverbal behavior
Ask nonleading (open) questions
Approach sensitive questions carefully
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Dealing with Difficult People
• Do not react
• Disarm the person
• Change tactics
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Volatile Interviews
• An interview that has the potential to bring about
strong emotional reactions in the respondent
• There should be two interviewers
• Should be conducted on a surprise basis
• The order of questions should be out of sequence
• Use hypothetical questions
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Closing Questions
• Reconfirming facts
• Gathering additional facts
• Concluding the interview
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Assessment Questions
• Establishes the credibility of the respondent
• Norming or calibrating
– Process of observing behavior before critical questions
are asked
• Physiology of deception
– People lie for one of two reasons: to receive rewards or
to avoid punishment
– The human body will attempt to relieve stress through
verbal and nonverbal clues
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Verbal Clues to Deception
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Changes in speech patterns
Repetition of the question
Comments regarding the interview
Selective memory
Making excuses
Oaths
Character testimony
Answering with a question
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Verbal Clues to Deception
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Overuse of respect
Increasingly weaker denials
Failure to deny
Avoidance of emotive words
Refusal to implicate other suspects
Tolerant attitudes
Reluctance to terminate interview
Feigned unconcern
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Nonverbal Clues
• Full-body motions
• Anatomical physical
responses
• Illustrators
• Hands over the mouth
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Manipulators
Fleeing positions
Crossing the arms
Reaction to evidence
Fake smiles
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Methodology
• Interviewer: “Most of them aren’t criminals at all. A lot of
times, they’re just trying to save their jobs or just trying to get
by because the company is so cheap that they won’t pay
people what they are worth. Do you know what I mean?”
• Interviewer: “Why do you think someone around here might
be justified in making a secret arrangement with one of the
company’s vendors?”
• Interviewer: “How do you think we should deal with someone
who got in a bind and did something wrong in the eyes of the
company?”
• Interviewer: “Do you think someone in your department
might have done something wrong because they thought they
were justified?”
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Methodology
• Interviewer: “Have you ever felt justified—even though you
didn’t go through with it—in taking advantage of your
position?”
• Interviewer: “Who in your department do you think would feel
justified in doing something against the company?”
• Interviewer: “Do you believe that most people will tell their
manager if they believed a colleague was doing something
wrong, like committing fraud against the company?”
• Interviewer: “Is there any reason why someone who works
with you would say they thought you might feel justified in
doing something wrong?”
• Interviewer: “What would concern you most if you did
something wrong and it was discovered?”
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Admission-Seeking Questions
• Distinguish the innocent from the culpable
• Obtain a valid confession
• Obtain from the confessor a written
statement acknowledging the facts
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Admission-Seeking Questions
• Presence of outsiders
• Miranda warnings
• Theme development
– People will confess if they perceive that the benefits
outweigh the penalties.
– Offer a morally acceptable reason for the confessor’s
behavior.
– Convey absolute confidence in the premise of the
admission you seek from the subject.
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Accusing an Innocent Person
• The accuser has reasonable suspicion or
predication to believe the accused has committed
an offense.
• The accusation is made under conditions of
privacy.
• The accuser does not take any action likely to
make an innocent person confess.
• The accusation is conducted under reasonable
conditions.
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Steps in the AdmissionSeeking Interview
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Direct accusation
Observe reaction
Repeat accusation
Interrupt denials
– Delays
– Interruptions
– Reasoning
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Steps in the AdmissionSeeking Interview
• Establish rationalization
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Unfair treatment
Inadequate recognition
Financial problems
Aberration of conduct
Family problems
Accuser’s actions
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Stress, drugs, alcohol
Revenge
Depersonalizing the victim
Minor moral infraction
Altruism
Genuine need
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Steps in the AdmissionSeeking Interview
• Diffuse alibis
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Display physical evidence
Discuss witnesses
Discuss deceptions
Present alternative
• Benchmark admission
– Reinforce rationalization
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Steps in the AdmissionSeeking Interview
• Verbal confession
– That the accused knew the conduct was wrong
– Facts known only to the perpetrator
– An estimate of the number of instances or
amounts
– A motive for the offense
– When the misconduct began
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Steps In The AdmissionSeeking Interview
• Verbal confession
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When/if the misconduct was terminated
Others involved
Physical evidence
Disposition of proceeds
Location of assets
Specifics of each offense
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Taking a Signed Statement
• Voluntary confessions
• Intent
Instead of:
Lied
Stole
Embezzled
Defrauded
Use:
I knew the statement/action was untrue.
I wrongfully took the property of ______ for my
own benefit.
I wrongfully took ______’s property, which had
been entrusted to me, and used it for my own
benefit.
I knowingly told ______ an untrue statement and
he/she/they relied on it.
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Taking a Signed Statement
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Approximate dates of the offense
Approximate amounts of losses
Approximate number of instances
Willingness to cooperate
Excuse clause
Have the confessor read the statement
Truthfulness of statement
Preparing the statement
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