Interviews / Interrogations

WHEN INTERVIEWING VICTIMS:

It is a good practice to let them tell their story first, and then follow with questions from their narrative.

Take notes during the victim’s statement to allow for reflection on what information needs to be developed further.

Be thorough and detailed when obtaining a statement, and always exercise patience.

Note the important points throughout the course of the interview and, when appropriate, draw the victim back to those points. Memory is improved when a person is guided back to a subject they hurried-over earlier.

WHEN INTERVIEWING SUSPECTS:

A written statement made by a suspect is admissible if it is shown on the face of the statement that the suspect received Miranda warnings and that s/he “knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived the rights set out in the warning.” Miranda is read to a person who is in custody and is going to be questioned about a specific crime. (Miranda is not needed when an investigator speaks with a suspect on the telephone.)

When conducting a face-to-face interview and Miranda is not read to the suspect, the investigator should inform them of their ability to leave at any time. (The knowledge that a suspect can leave will allow the interview to be admissible.)

IF Miranda is not read and a confession occurs during the interview, one of two things must happen it ensure the confession is admissible:

1) Stop and read the Miranda Warning and then go back and recover the same information.

2) Let them continue talking, obtain the statement, and then let them leave. Obtain an arrest warrant and go arrest him/her. INTERVIEWS vs. INTERROGATION

Interrogations are more confrontational than interview. An interview is seeking information from someone, whereas an interrogation is seeking answers to why the evidence points toward the suspect.

CUSTODY vs. ENCOUNTER

Voluntary Encounter

Police are always free to ask citizens questions, even without reasonable suspicion or probable cause, so long as the officers do not convey a message that the citizen’s compliance is required. (Florida v. Bostick, 501 US 429, 434 (1991))

Detention

A temporary detention requires a showing of reasonable suspicion.

So long as an officer can identify specific and articulable objective facts demonstrating reasonable suspicion that an individual is involved in criminal activity, s/he can temporarily detain that person. (Brown v. Texas, 443 US 47, 51 (1979))

Arrest

An arrest – taking a suspect into custody – requires probable cause. (To hold a person in custody, police officers’ certainty that a person has been or is engaged in criminal activity must be greater than that required for a detention.

A person may be considered in custody before a formal arrest has been announced by an officer.

{Custody + Interrogation = Miranda}

BASIC STEPS FOR INTERVIEWING A SUSPECT

Step 1 Introduction Introduce yourself to the suspect and explain why the interview is being conducted. (In some instances, the why might not be appropriate early in the interview.) There is no legal requirement that a police officer must explain the purpose for the custodial interrogation.

Step 2 Constitutional Warning

Give Miranda Warning.

Be certain that the individual both understands and waves his/her rights before proceeding with the interview.

Step 3 Conduct the Interview

For recording purposes, state the date and time at the beginning of the statement.

The Investigator should control the environment; location, furniture arrangement, time of interview, who else should be present.

Conduct an interview/interrogation in your environment, not the suspect’s.

- Try to conduct the interview at the police station.

- Eliminate any distractions during the interview.

- Control the interview. (Do not allow the suspect to lose sight of that by averting his/her attention to an outside influence.)

- Ask the suspect to tell the story from the beginning to the end. Then, have the suspect retell the story from the end to the beginning. (It is harder to remember a rehearsed story when told in reverse order.)

- Have recording equipment ready and operating when beginning the conversation.

- Build rapport with the individual. There is nothing wrong with offering the person something to drink or something that will provide some measure of comfort, (if it is appropriate at the time). - Talk to him/her about something other than the crime. Listen for indicators that will reveal the person’s interests, something that causes the suspect to be at ease or supports his/her ego.

- Talk about anything that will bring a sense of calm and set the stage for the interview. (i.e. Family, personal memories, that kindle positive reflections).

- Avoid leading questions. (Avoid providing information suspects can use to make a false confession.)

- Pay attention to body language, (avoiding eye contact,) changing the subject of the conversation, looking for escape topics, (something that will move the conversation away from the subject).

- Most people do not like to lie. The discomfort of lying manifests itself in some movement or actions that reveals untruthfulness or releases nervous energy.

- Suspects may make misleading statements that they rationalize as “technically not a lie.” (It may be considered “word games” but suspects will carefully choose their wording and deliberately phase their responses to avoid lying.)

- This careful planning typically results in a sanitized account of an event or only a selected portion of the event. As a result, investigators must fine tune their active listening skills and key in on what suspects are specifically saying.

Be professional and courteous, but unrelenting when obtaining important information. - Remind the suspect that s/he has already implicated themselves to a point. After an initial acknowledgement of something distasteful in his/her actions, the suspect may be more willing to offer additional information. - Screaming at a suspect is never recommended. (A jury may see the recording. A defense attorney will argue that the investigator is abusive or coercive.)

- Lead the interview; do not let the suspect have control.

At the conclusion of the interview, state the date and time.