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Solving crimes with investigative questionnaires
A common technique for interviewing criminal defendants is to ask them to recount their activities and whereabouts when the crime occurred. Most defendants anticipate this approach. They create pat answers or phony alibis to conceal their guilt. A good example is OJ. Simpson's response to the one question he knew Judge Ito would ask him - "Mr. Simpson, how do you plead?" Simpson's answer was "Absolutely, positively, 100-percent not guilty, your Honor." The redundancies in his denial undercut the credibility of Simpson's not guilty plea.
An alternative method for interviewing crime suspects is the Crime Questionnaire. This 2!-question document is a test for truth and deception, and can be used in tandem with a polygraph or in situations where a polygraph cannot be used.
Whether a suspect is guilty or innocent, most will willingly fill out an investigative questionnaire instead of a polygraph exam. Criminal suspects will often answer an investigator's questions about a crime they are suspected of committing. But asking them to take a polygraph examination frequently causes the innocent - as well as guilty - to demand a lawyer.
Guilty suspects often see investigative questionnaires as less threatening than oral interviews. Guilty suspects appreciate the opportunity to display some degree of cooperation by answering questions in writing about the crime. They are also unaware their guilt can be revealed by their written answers to these questions.
Innocent suspects, on the other hand, are usually eager to demonstrate their innocence, but may fear the polygraph test based on misleading information from the media. Innocent suspects will usually complete investigative questionnaires willingly and confidently. Investigative questionnaires can save investigators time and help solve crimes faster.
And, the Crime Questionnaire shows considerable accuracy in predicting guilt or innocence. In fact, in a recent study, the Crime Questionnaire was administered to 132 criminal suspects prior to these suspects taking polygraph examinations. The questionnaire correctly predicted polygraph results 84.8 percent of the time. When the child sexual abuse cases in the study were excluded, the questionnaire's success rate rose to 89.2 percent.
These results were achieved from the analyses of the suspects' written answers alone and later confirmed by the volunteer polygraphists who administered the polygraph examinations to the individuals....