Recovering a missing murder weapon is a major coup for law enforcement. Even with a confession, every bit of physical evidence adds weight to the prosecution’s case. The murder weapon often provides DNA for both the victim and the accused or evidence such as matching...
Case studies
Voice Stress Analysis in Court: Judge Allows Videotaped Confession in Child Molestation Case
Locking up sex offenders who prey on children is one of the most gratifying resolutions for police officers. The key is getting a confession from the perpetrator, but even once a confession is obtained, it can be challenging to convince a judge to allow admission of...
CVSA Exam of Sexual Assault Suspect Helps Resolve Arson Cases in Pennsylvania
Either getting a confession from a guilty individual or releasing an innocent person is the ultimate goal in the police interview room, but the interview process can be challenging. Most lawyers tell suspects not to talk or provide minimal responses without...
Cold Case Murder in Alabama Solved by Local Law Enforcement’s Use of the CVSA
If a murder isn’t solved within the first few days, it becomes increasingly more difficult to resolve as time goes on. Potential witnesses or suspects can disappear or even die. If re-interviewed, they may forget important details. Unless DNA is collected at the crime...
Suspect Interview Strategies: What To Do When Your Subject Makes Contradictory Statements
When a suspect offers inconsistent statements, a truth verification examination clarifies the truth. Image source: Unsplash user Sholto Ramsay. Most murderers aren’t keen to confess their crimes and go to prison, so it wasn’t surprising when Jay Jones Baird provided...
How CVSA Truth Verification Can Disprove False Accusations of Sexual Assault
False sexual assault allegations negatively impact real victims and those falsely accused. Image source: Flickr user Neon Tommy. When a person calls 911 to report sexual assault, there is no time to debate whether these allegations are true. The alleged victim’s word...
Police Questioning of Minors: The Best Truth Verification for Juvenile Suspects
When a minor is accused of a heinous crime, it’s easy to forget that person is still a child. The police need to obtain information from the suspect, but accusatory interrogations aren’t appropriate when interviewing a minor. Instead, investigators should consider...
Comparing the CVSA and the Polygraph in the Investigation of a West Virginia Murder
There are plenty of challenges working in the mines of West Virginia, where men and women regularly risk their lives for a paycheck. In the past few decades, there have been over a hundred accidents listed on the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and...
Overcoming the Defenses of a Repeat Child Abuse Offender with the DBR Interview Technique
The death of a baby is invariably an investigation fraught with emotion, chaos, and confusion. There are natural conditions that can cause an infant to die, making it difficult to determine on-scene cause of death. For instance, some parents have been considered...
How CVSA Revealed False Criminal Allegations by a Psychologically Challenged Individual
When a person comes forward with injuries and evidence of a serious assault, law enforcement must first consider them the true victim of a crime. But sometimes, those injuries are self-inflicted. People have reported rape or assault to implicate someone else or to...