Problems of Forensic Sciences 2015 Vol. 103 (CIII) 195-207
FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGES OF SUSPECTS’ AND DEFENDANTS’ STATEMENTS AND INFLUENCING THE ASSESSMENT OF THEIR CREDIBILITY
Teresa JAŚKIEWICZ-OBYDZIŃSKA, Ewa WACH
Institute of Forensic Research, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
In the light of Polish regulations, a defendant’s right to defend himself or herself, among others, provides a lack of legal consequences resulting from false testimonies. Assessment of motivation of changes made by suspects, significant in determination of credibility of their statements, often causes difficulties in conjectural prosecution, where there is a lack of unequivocal evidence of guilt. In such cases, prosecutors and judges request expert psychologists’ opinion, especially in cases of homicide. The aim of this research was qualitative and statistical analysis of factors influencing changes in statements, character of those changes and their significance for the final assessment of statements’ credibility. Analyses included statements of 40 men accused of and sentenced for a homicide. Each of them was repeatedly interviewed. Among factors that influenced introduction of changes were: external factors (course of an event, conditions of interviewing, being in custody), and internal factors (related to psychological conditions of suspects and defendants). Character of changes was examined within the following categories: supplementing, omissions, complete or partial change of the statements’ contents. Their direction was also established: total or partial self-accusation (also false), pleading guilty of homicide but denying motives, negating own participation in the act, accusing other persons. It was examined if there is a relationship between psychological traits (e.g. extroversion, neuroticism, personality disorders, intellectual level, self-esteem) and direction and type of changes made in statements. Analysis of results proved, among others, that credibility assessment of homicide offenders’ statements, and consequently finding them guilty of those crimes, was influenced both by factors associated with form and contents of given statements (conformity of relation with determined facts, logic and realism of relation), as well as psychological conditions being the basis of introduced changes, and psychological adequacy of the act and defendant’s personality. Number and character of changes made by defendants were not directly related to credibility assessment.
Słowa kluczowe
Homicide offenders; Statements; Credibility assessment; Offenders’ personality.