Resolved: Body Language is an awful way of judging reliability and truthfulness

Great Debates
61

About 8 years ago, I was on a jury for a case of assault/choking where the accuser had essentially the same demeanor as Anita Hill.

The thing was, though, the accuser was indeed telling the truth. The defendant agreed that the accuser (his wife) was telling the truth, but claimed that for whatever reason, it was unintentional. (The case itself was a mess, as he’d been charged under the wrong offense, and had to be found not guilty under the charge they’d too hastily chosen.)

Real live people, not the ones we see on TV and in movies, can look “off” when they’re struggling with maintaining composure under extreme duress and with a room full of people staring at then and challenging them. I hope to god I never have to go through what they put Anita Hill through.

62

Never mind (ninja’d)

63

Unfortunately, people do falsely confess to crimes. A fellow named Robert Farnsworth confessed to having stolen a deposit bag instead of placing it in the night deposit slot at the bank - but a few months after he was convicted, the bag was found stuck in the deposit slot, along with two other bags. But I suspect the fellow who interrogated Farnsworth thought that his interrogation was on the right track when he got Farnsworth to confess

http://forejustice.org/wc/robert_farnswroth_jr_vol1_i12.htm

64

Yep.

65

This is why my kid is instructed to NEVER talk to the police. Answer not a single question. People believe whatever signs they want to believe.

66

Depending on where you are, you may be compelled to provide your name.

Distasteful though it may be to one’s principles, I’d be willing to show ID.

(Your mileage may vary, not applicable in all jurisdictions).

67

This.

I disagree with those that say body language is useless. There are often times that it is a valuable tool. Many factors have to be considered and a seasoned interviewer will know when to apply each factor and the value that is placed on body language when dealing with each individual. But the notion that it is of no value ever is nonsense. I’ve been fascinated by this subject ever since reading the books by Julius Fast.

68

What I’m getting from this thread is, not that it is of no value, but that some of its value is positive and some of it is negative. By “negative value” I mean that it’s easy to misinterpret, making people think it reveals things that it actually doesn’t.

69

I don’t think anyone said it was useless, but just curious, what evidence is there that interviewers can correctly judge guilt or innocence through body language?

70

I know because countless times, further inquiry based (in part) on body language cues led to probative evidence that was subsequently corroborated. First, anyone who asserts that they “know” with certainty someone is lying based on body language alone is grossly overconfident at best. That’s not how it works. As @MikeF and @pkbites alluded to, observing body language is a means, not an end.

Specifically, it’s a means to identify instances in which an interviewee may be lying or withholding information. An effective interviewer doesn’t jump to conclusions based on body language cues; they take them into consideration (among others) to determine further lines of inquiry. That’s it. And if that leads to admissions (or inconsistencies), an effective interviewer proceeds to corroborate those admissions (or clarify those inconsistencies), to assess the credibility of the statements and mitigate the potential for a false confession.

Corroboration can include asking for details the interviewee would likely only know if their admissions were true or that can be verified. For example, in the deposit bag case cited by @Andy_L the inquiry should not stop with the subject’s admission that they took the money bag. Follow up should include asking the confessor questions like: “Where’s the bag/money?” “Where did you go immediately after taking it.” “Show us where it is.”

Retrace the subject’s steps. Locate the bag/money, if possible. Identify potential surveillance/witnesses along the subject’s route that may corroborate the admission. If they tell you they bought liquor and blow, follow up on that lead to verify it. From the info available on the case, it also sounds like the investigators did not properly vet the subject’s initial story. They should have asked the bank to check the night drop compartment, as a subsequent depositor did.

Body language is an essential component of human communication. Can it be misinterpreted, manipulated, or contrived? Sure. But so can verbal and written communication, and I see no one writing those off. I’m sure everyone can recount times when they’ve observed that a family member, friend, colleague, or even a stranger was in distress (perhaps even despite verbal denials) based on body language. We interpret it every day whether we realize it or not.

Btw, I was unaware the catalyst for this thread was Anita Hill’s 1991 testimony. As it happens, I found her credible at the time and still do, but her body language barely figures into that, if at all. The credible and repeatable details of her testimony, her lack of motive to lie, the fact that her allegations were against her self-interest, and the existence of corroborating witnesses were persuasive IMO.

71

This does make me wonder how, say, autistic people do in interrogations and other scenarios where their body language is being judged. No eye contact? Mumbling? Inability to integrate gestures with speech? Are you hiding something, are you acting strangely, or do you just have a disability?

72

Just an aside, Jodi Picoult’s novel “House Rules” is precisely about an autistic child who is wrongly accused of murder, and she brings up all these issues.

73

A competent investigator should take unusual affect (whether due to autism or otherwise) into account when deciding how to approach an interviewee and interpret their responses. Importantly, autism and other conditions can affect verbal communication as well as non-verbal. This can include an elevated risk of a false confession. It places even more importance on proper corroboration of statements.

74

A few years prior to the release of the West Memphis 3, we were discussing this in my undergraduate American Cultures class. A lot of students, like a lot of people, simply couldn’t fathom how or why someone would falsly confess to such a heinous crime. I remember the professor looking at one such student and saying, “You don’t have an IQ of 72. You’re not uneducated and you understand your rights. And you haven’t been with the police for twelve hours.”

A lot of us don’t really understand human behavior like we think we do. Less than two weeks after Darlie Routier’s three children were murdered, she was at their graveside with balloons and silly string celebrating one of their birthdays. Was this unusual behavior? I think so. But a lot of people took it as a sign that she was guilty of murdering her children. Maybe this is a bad example because she was eventually tried and convicted of murdering two of them and currently sits on death row in Texas, but I didn’t take it as an indication of guilt. Sometimes people behave in odd manners when stressed out.

75

This, for sure. A recurring theme here on the board is posters who are boggled by, and/or suspicious of, what they perceive as non-rational behaviors by people in stressful or emotionally-charged situations. “No one would ever act that way! It’s not rational!”

It’s very easy to armchair-quarterback how someone reacts to a situation from the comfort of your own home, when you have the luxury of time, and aren’t emotionally invested or compromised by what’s going on.

76

Yeah, I have told her she does need to state her name. Beyond that it’s “I want to talk to my Dad” until she’s 18, “I want a lawyer” once she’s 18. (When driving, of course, one must cough up license, insurance, and registration.)

Beyond that, anything you do or say will convince the police you’re guilty of something.

In Canada of course we had the infamous Guy Paul Morin case, where an innocent man was absolutely railroaded for murdering a little girl. The case against Morin was weak, and the police overlooked the real killer because they literally just forgot to interview him, but Morin just “seemed” guilty to them and got into what the eventual inquiry called “staggering tunnel vision.” Once they decide you’re likely guilty, they’ll keep at you until they have something they think makes you guilty.

77

Police handle the sensitive situation of interogating people who are neuroatypical with all the grace and nuance that you’d expect if you’ve been paying attention to the news lately:

78

Meanwhile I was raised with two cops in the family (grandparents on stepfather’s side) and I have a knee -jerk response to comply with police. I was taught not only to comply but to give them discounts at restaurants and stuff. It’s very hard for me to not to stand up to them, so hopefully I never get screwed over someday (I’m an allistic white woman of above average intelligence so probably this is not a real concern for me. Not exactly in the demographic of people who commonly get railroaded. But you never know!)

79

I agree! Unfortunately, as case after case after case shows, our nation’s police forces are populated by many incompetent investigators. Or perhaps ones who are competently navigating he toxic incentive structure created by their work environment, where pinning the crime on the mentally handicapped guy wins you praise and saves everyone a lot of trouble.