Dr. Gisli Gudjonsson is a professor of forensic psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College in London. He has recently published a study that demonstrates that almost 20% of criminals that have been convicted were convicted through a false confession given during their interrogations by investigators. Research has found that in the United […]
Amanda Knox Trial is Over, but Meredith Kercher Murder Mystery Remains
Merideth’s killer was no expert at murder. It was amateur work. There were bloody fingerprints and footprints all over the apartment, and the killer even defecated in the toilet and forgot to flush. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Whoever murdered Meredith Kercher didn’t know how to use a knife. The first two wounds weren’t deep […]
The Burden of Lying
Psychological scientists are fascinated, as am I, by the tactics used by investigators in trying to determine if a suspect is lying. Detecting lies and liars is essential to effective policing and prosecution of criminals, but it is maddeningly difficult. Most of us can correctly spot barely more than half of all lies and truths […]
Solyndra Leaders Invoke 5th Amendment at Hearing
Top executives from a bankrupt California solar energy company declined to testify before a congressional hearing investigating their half-billion dollar government loan. Solyndra Inc. CEO Brian Harrison and the company’s chief financial officer, Bill Stover, both invoked their Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify to avoid self-incrimination. Solyndra Inc. received a $528 million loan from the […]
Flight on 9/11 Anniversary Ends in Handcuffs for Housewife
A flight on the 9/11 anniversary ended in handcuffs and a strip search for housewife, as well as a strip search of an Arab-Jewish blogger and two other passengers. No charges were filed against Hebshi, a self-described “half-Arab, half-Jewish housewife living in suburban Ohio,” or the two men sitting next to her, who were flying […]