Hypnosis Testimonials in Court: Annotated Annotated Bibliography

Niehaus, Joseph. (2000). Investigative Forensic Hypnosis. New York: CRC Press.

178 pgs.

This heavily-researched book by Joseph Niehaus explores a number of areas related to the use of hypnosis in the courtroom. Although hypnosis has come under much dissent in recent years, Niehaus points out that it can serve as a powerful tool when collecting information from witnesses and aids prosecutors by enabling the witness to recall forgotten details. Niehaus also provides a discussion on various applications, suggestibility, ethics, polygraph use and induction techniques.

In addition, Niehaus leads the reader through a step-by-step session and discusses ethics, court requirements and various techniques for successful investigative hypnosis. Despite the fact that Niehaus argues for the use of testimony based on hypnosis, he does divulge some information based on real cases which seems to contradict the use of testimony by a person who underwent hypnosis before the start of a trial.

Pettinati, Helen M., ed. (1998). Hypnosis and Memory. New York: Guilford Press.

215 pgs.

Since much of the testimony derived from a hypnosis session relies heavily upon repressed memories, Helen M. Pettinati advances the idea that hypnosis, if done under a very controlled clinical atmosphere, can be used successfully in the courtroom; however, she also maintains that hypnosis for testimonials is fraught with legal entanglements which may increase the chances of an innocent defendant being found guilty.

This work is one of the first to provide a comprehensive discussion of the conceptual and methodological foundations underlying studies of hypnosis and human memory.Thus, since it also provides the pros and cons of using hypnosis in the courtroom, a good, solid argument against its use can be derived from Pettinati's thorough investigative skills and knowledge.

Soh, Yu-Sung. (2007). "The Taint of Post-Hypnosis Evidence and the Fallibility of Memory." The Court. Internet. Retrieved at http://www.thecourt.ca/2007/04/

26/the-taint-of-post-hypnosis-evidence-and-the-fallibility-of-memory.

This website is a kind of continuation but with much more information on the case of R. Vs. Trochym which prompted the Canadian courts to disallow the use of testimony based on a hypnosis session prior to the commencement of a trial. Before this case, Canadian courts had generally allowed the admission of evidence by witnesses whose memories had been "restored" via hypnosis as long as the trial judge found that such evidence was sufficiently reliable. But now, one of the reasons for the disallowance is related to the idea that memories which a witness may have had prior to being hypnotized might interfere with the truth.

Thus, an argument against the use of testimonial hypnosis is greatly supported by the results of this controversial case, for as Yu-Sung Soh puts it, the truly upsetting issue which came about as a result of the Canadian court's decision does not concern so much the reliability of hypnosis itself but the reliability of human memory.

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