Services Trial & Litigation Support: Assistance is provided to attorneys for criminal defense or civil litigation, including locating and interviewing witnesses, obtaining oral and written statements, canvassing for witnesses, and obtaining photographs, measurements, and diagramming to document a scene. A thorough, peer-reviewed analysis, behaviorally and forensically, will be provided. Analysis consists of the objective examination and interpretation of evidence as it relates to behavioral and forensic science, and addresses such issues as implications of physical evidence, case linkage or exclusionary indications, indications of staged crime scenes, indications of false reporting, statement analysis, and indications confirming or refuting cause of death determinations. Detailed written reports are prepared as necessary to record the findings and supporting facts and inferences, and included are recommendations for further forensic inquiry and/or processing are provided as indicated by investigative findings. Courtroom testimony is provided as needed.
Review of Completed/Closed/Cold Cases: As described above, results of these cases are examined for completeness and proper interpretation of the findings. Included are domestic violence, stalking, and threats.Those results may be confirmed or refuted, or avenues for further inquiry may be suggested.
Investigative Hypnosis Consultation:Hypnosis has been defined as a sustained receptive and intensely focused response to a signal, while diminishing peripheral awareness (Pinizotto, 1989). Hypnosis is not universally effective, and the best subjects are generally children from age 5, with decreasing susceptibility to hypnosis beyond age 21 (Boulch, n.d.). Positive motivation is essential; and, a negative attitude, illness, or post trauma circumstances will generally lead to poor hypnotic outcomes. Forensic hypnosis is primarily concerned with hypermnesia, the ability to recover lost memories. The reliability of hypnotically recalled information is directly related to the evidence that the hypnotist has not influenced the person being hypnotized. In spite of the Rock v. Arkansas (1987) decision, in which the Supreme Court held that states may not exclude all testimony aided or refreshed by hypnosis, as doing so would be a violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights, most jurisdictions prohibit testimony on memories obtained during or following hypnosis. Although, a few states and some federal circuits deal with hypnosis on a case-by-case basis (Webert, 2003). Where potentially allowed in court, probative (admissible as testimony) or prejudicial determinations are made based on procedural safeguards in place during the hypnotic session, the “totality of the circumstances” (Martin, 2003). Three potentially negative outcomes from hypnosis have been identified (Webert, 2003). First, there is an increased susceptibility to suggestion while hynotized, accompanied by a loss of critical judgement and/or desire to please the hypnotist, or the perception that the hypnosis will provide the proper answer. This can be intentional or unintentional. Second is “confabulation,” the filling of memory gaps, a concept analogous to the first outcome. The third is memory hardening, wherein confidence of the hypnotically recalled information is enhanced, possibly in error. These improper outcomes detract from accurate testimony and evaluation of testimony by a jury. “With the knowledge of memory and hypnosis that is available, the cautious use of hypnosis may be of great importance to the field of forensic investigation” (Pinizotto, 1989, p. 327). This sentiment has been repeated elsewhere (Martin, 2003; Webert, 2003). Hypnotically enhanced memory is assured to be acceptable to the extent that information so obtained can be corroborated, thereby negating the need for testimony at trial (Webert, 2003).
References Boulch, J. M. (n.d.). Advanced hypnosis. Criminal Justice Center, University of Houston- Downtown. Houston, TX: University of Houston-Downtown. Martin, E. F. (2003, Summer). A Daubert test of hypnotically refreshed testimony in the criminal courts. Texas Wesleyan Law Review, 9. 151. Pinizzotto, A. J. (1989). Memory and hypnosis: Implications for the use of forensic hypnosis. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 20(5), 322-328. Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44 (1987). Webert, D. R. (2003, Summer). Are the courts in a trance? Approaches to the admissibility of hypnotically enhanced witness testimony in light of empirical evidence. American Criminal Law Review, 40. 1301.
Also see: Robb, D. L. (2016). Investigative hypnosis. Journal of Cold Case Review, 2(1), 51-56. https://www.academia.edu/24713877/ Investigative_Hypnosis_in_Texas
Criminal Profiling: Criminal Profiling, as advocated by the Academy of Behavioral Profiling (ABP) (2009), consists of the application of evidence based profiling techniques resulting from multi-disciplinary continuing education and training, standards of practice, and peer review within guidelines relative to the production of comprehensive reporting documents (Turvey, 2001). "Behavioral evidence analysis (BEA) is an ideo-deductive method of crime scene analysis and criminal profiling. It involves the examination and interpretation of physical evidence, victimology, and crime scene characteristics” (Petherick & Turvey, 2008, p. 134). The results of these inquiries are then analyzed for behavior patterns and clusters of phenomena indicative of offender characteristics. This process is ideographic in that it focuses on individual cases rather than inductive processes that draw from groups of similar cases. This perspective varies from the purely empirical perspective, “which, in the study of nature, (will) yield regularities that are demonstrated by observation and experiment, but upon which little or no reliance is placed with regard to cases which differ considerably from the observed” (Gross, 1905/1911, p. 136). This variance allows for recognition of the empirical hypothesis, while focusing on the individuality of the case at hand. As with forensic hypnosis, criminal profiling has been generally determined to be appropriate for investigative purposes, but current practice falls short of reaching a probative standard (analogous to polygraph examinations, anonymous informants, and databases for arson and bombings) (New Jersey v. Fortin, 2007). References Academy of Behavioral Profiling. (2009). Mission statement. Retrieved on June 27, 2009, from http://www.profiling.org/abp_mission.html. Gross, H. (1911). Criminal psychology: A manual for judges, practitioners, and students. (H. M. Kallen, Trans.). New York: Little, Brown, and Company. (Original work published 1905) New Jersey v. Fortin. 189 N.J. 579; 917 A.2nd 746 (N.J. Sup. Ct. 2007). Petherick, W. A., & Turvey, B. E. (2008). Behavioral evidence analysis: Ideo-deductive method of criminal profiling. In B. E. Turvey (Ed.). Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis (3rd ed., pp. 133-154). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press. Turvey, B. E. (2001). Criminal profiling: an introduction to behavioral evidence analysis (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press.