PW_2_2023

Professional Development

Getting to The Truth Michel Funicelli PhD , North East Branch Michel Funicelli served his police career in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, before moving into academia. He currently lectures at Teesside University. This is a summary of his doctorate research into using

brainwave reactions, as an indicator of truthfulness. T he P300 is a well-studied electrical brainwave which appears after a person is presented with a meaningful stimulus. It is detectable by placing electrodes on the scalp of a person and it is considered by science as a reliable index of memory recognition. The leading theory of this brainwave is that it is an involuntary reaction to stimulus. We have all had our attention drawn to hearing our name being mentioned in a social setting. This mental reflex has been a feature of survival since the beginning of humanity, to help us detect whether a particular sight or sound was friendly or not. The Complex Trial Protocol, developed by the late Peter Rosenfeld, a professor at Northwestern University, is considered a reliable methodology in analysing P300 brainwaves. In forensic circles it can be used to determine if a person involved in a crime, as a witness or a suspect, recognises crucial pieces of information in relation to that crime, which would only be known to the perpetrator or witness. A Concealed Information Test (CIT) measures the P300 brainwave, to determine if that person is in possession of that crucial piece of information or not. An inference of guilt or innocence can be drawn from such a conclusion. The CIT is easy to understand. A person is presented with a photograph (called ‘probe’) on a computer screen, such as the murder weapon, the wound pattern of a victim, the crime scene, the face of an accomplice or the face of an attacker. Like the Photo ID Galleries we are used to, the image is mixed with a series of neutral alternatives (called ‘irrelevants’). Significant spike differences in P300 brainwave provide a measurable value of the recognition stimuli presented. Performed on a suspect prior to a formal interview, this memory recognition technique can be incorporated as a form of credibility assessment within an interview strategy. For example, if a suspect’s pre-interview test confirms the recognition of crucial stimuli only known to the offender and the authorities, and is followed by the suspect’s denial of the same information during the interview, the test can be a useful guide for an interviewer. Alternatively, the same test can be administered to crime witnesses. A major problem faced by law enforcement agencies worldwide is the unreliability of eyewitness identification and scarcity of physical clues at crime scenes. The amount of evidence from mistaken eyewitness identification in wrongful convictions is considerable. Police agencies only collect physical evidence from approximately 15% or less of crime scenes. This relatively inexpensive and non-invasive technique could benefit law enforcement agencies throughout the world in reducing erroneous suspect identification.

In 2021, Kevin Strickland of Missouri, was exonerated after having spent 42 years in prison for being wrongfully convicted of a triple murder in 1978. In 2022, Thomas Raynard James’ conviction for murder was overturned in Florida after he was imprisoned for 32 years. The common denominator in both cases was the mistaken identification of an eyewitness. In Strickland’s case, four assailants shot three people inside their Kansas City home. A fourth victim, 20-year Cynthia Douglas, pretended to be dead and escaped once the attackers left. Police arrested Strickland and other suspects. Douglas was asked by police to view a line-up of suspects which included Strickland. She later said that police pressured her into identifying Strickland. She attempted to have her testimony recanted but failed. She died in 2015. Thomas Raynard James’ problems began when his name surfaced in a residential robbery-homicide investigation, in which the gunman was wearing a mask. His name popped up as police were searching for another person with a similar name, Thomas James. Police arrested and charged Thomas Raynard James, and showed one eyewitness a photo line-up that included the photo of Thomas Raynard James, instead of Thomas James’ photo. Dorothy Walton, now 79, initially identified the first James as the gunman, but later admitted in 2019 to investigators that she believed that she made a mistake in her identification of Thomas Raynard James. She had likely been influenced by the mistaken identification of another witness, who mentioned to her that they had picked the same man. It’s impossible to know if a photo identification using brainwave analysis with the CTP would have prevented either miscarriage of justice. While more research is necessary, the preliminary findings about the CTP are proving it to be a potential and accurate asset for law enforcement.

Michel Funicelli

14

POLICE WORLD Vol 68 No.2, 2023