}You are a
forensic psychologist working with Forensic Consultants, Inc. An attorney is
using your services as a consultant in a case. During a meeting with the
attorney, the attorney tells you that the client, while undergoing police
interrogation, confessed to murder. When the attorney asked the client, the
client reported to being not guilty.
As you conduct a preliminary investigation, draw up a plan on how you will
assist your the attorney with this case. The plan should answer the following
questions posed by the attorney:
}1. What
specific factors about police interrogative tactics do you think will be
important to thedefense strategy? Discuss interrogation tactics that lead to
false confession, specifying at least two examples and explain the reason they
are considered coercive. Include information about how this would look in an
actual interrogation and how the client experienced thisbehavior.
}2. Will
you look for any specific personality characteristics in the client? What are
they and why will they help or hurt your case? Are issues of competency going
to come up? Discuss information about what types of people are more at risk
with coercive interrogation tactics. Include at least one research study that
has demonstrated this risk.
}3. What
type of personality assessment instrument will you want to use to either
identify or rule out the characteristics listed in question 2? Be specific and
support your answer: Identify at least one psychological test that can be used
and include information on why it would be useful in determining whether a
person was vulnerable.
}Based on
the client’s response to police interrogation, how should you conduct your
interview? Specifically, what should you avoid when attempting to gather
accurate information from the client?
}Create a
presentation to give to the attorney. You will need to explain each of your
arguments. You should expect to have 30 minutes to present your arguments. You
should include detailed speaker notes to assist in your presentation. Please
make sure to have at least 12 slides for review besides a title slide and a
References slide. Each slide should be thoroughly referenced and cited based in
psychological research, using APA formatting.
