NCJ Number
93422
Date Published
1983
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Hypnotically aided testimony should be allowed in the courtroom.
Abstract
In major crime cases in several States, witnesses and victims are being kept off the witness stand if they have had their recall enhanced by hypnosis interviewing. The Federal courts and the majority of State appellate courts have ruled that hypnotically refreshed testimony is generally admissible but question how much weight should be given it. However, current research in investigative hypnosis allows some general conclusions. Hypnosis does not always result in hypersuggestibility. Investigative hypnosis is a specialty within the police science arena rather than the therapy domain. The witness is not changed into a different person by hypnosis and retains his prior cognitive abilities to discriminate among events. Memory is not automatically tainted by hypnosis, and confabulation is not an invariable consequence regarding recent crime situations. The model of memory favored by the hypnotist is irrelevant to properly cued recall. A list of 115 references is attached.