NCJ Number
79388
Journal
Trial Volume: 17 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1981) Pages: 42-46,83-84
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article cites problems in allowing the admission of testimony in court that is obtained from witnesses when they were under hypnosis, especially if the hypnosis was induced by untrained or minimally trained police officers.
Abstract
Two major professional associations in the field of hypnosis issued identical resolutions condemning the use of hypnosis by police officers, as opposed to professional hypnotists, because they recognize that hypnosis may produce pseudomemories, fantasies that are accepted as real by subject and hypnotist alike. The professional consensus is that hypnosis should not be used in courts and should be used most carefully, if at all, in investigations. The article presents guidelines that have been suggested for correct scientific procedure in the context of forensic hypnosis. Various judicial decisions dealing with admissibility of evidence and destruction of evidence are discussed. A total of 48 references notes are supplied.