287
Use of HypnosisPurpose
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In certain limited cases, the use of forensic hypnosis can be
an
aid in the investigative process. Witnesses to crimes have been
able to
recall certain facets of the crime while in a hypnotic state that
they
had not remembered without hypnosis. The use of hypnosis, however,
is
subject to serious objections and thus should be used only on rare
occasions. The information obtained from a person while in a
hypnotic
trance cannot be assumed to be accurate. Therefore, any information
obtained by the use of hypnosis must be thoroughly checked as to
its
ultimate accuracy and corroborated. It would therefore be advisable
to
first consult with a board-certified forensic psychologist/
psychiatrist
to ascertain if the matter in question is appropriate for the
application of forensic hypnosis. Because of the question of
admissibility with regard to information retrieved within a
hypnosis
session, Assistant United States Attorneys should also consider the
appropriateness and potential application of the cognitive
interview
before using hypnosis. The cognitive interview is a non-hypnotic
structured interview that is used to enhance the witness's ability
to
remember an event by engaging in a reconstruction of the context in
which the event took place. In this type of interview, the witness
is
asked to:
(1) reconstruct the circumstances of the event; (2) provide a
non-guided report of the event; (3) recall the circumstances of the
event in a different order; and (4) change his/her perspective of
the
event. See additional references in this Manual at 294 for information on the
cognitive interview.
[cited in USAM 9-13.600] | |