Application Assignment: Video Analysis: Confession to a Homicide - Essay Example

Absence of attorney and complex adult language persuaded Michael to be more confused when he was already distressed due to death of his sister (Feld, 2009). Complex and interrogative Miranda questioning often turns out to be more forceful for children if not used appropriately. Given that this session is an interrogation and detectives realize the sensitivity of the issue i.e. questioning a child, it is important that a sensitive selection of words along with use of correct questioning and amiable or neutral tone is performed.

Presence of an independent person who is not connected to the suspect would have changed the situation. Here, it is important that a child is aware of his rights and is able to make informed decisions instead of making a confession due to threatening attitude of the detectives. It is important for an interrogator to begin with the possibility in mind that the suspect can be innocent. In the given video, the tone of the detective was accusatory which reflected narrow mind set of the detective and preconception that Michael was the murderer (National Geographic Channel, n.d). An active persuasive would be appropriate if it suggests that telling a truth is appropriate instead of making false promises.

Such persuasion would help the child to provide facts instead of statements desired by the interrogator. Another important aspect of this video was presentation of fictitious evidences. The detective attempted to gain confession by continuously stating that Michael does not remember what he has done. The technique is required to be used cautiously with children and young adolescents as they can be persuaded easily. In the light of best practices of interrogating a child, it can be recommended that attorney’s assistance should be provided to juvenile suspect as parents are not able to provide them with desired assistance (Feld, 2009).

In addition to that, there should be a suitable time frame within a child is able to remain calm and provide objective answers to the questions asked. According to Feld’s research (2009), the juvenile suspects are likely to provide false confession when the length of interrogations increases. If I were to conduct a forensic interview of Michael Crow, I would have used phased forensic interviewing techniques. To begin with, I would gain background information and conduct interview in an environment that is not daunting.

In the introduction phase, I would use a rather neutral tone and would illustrate him about my job (Cordisco, n.d). Here, my job is to talk to Michael and know what happened instead of asking if he has committed the murder. Since Michael is a fairly sensible suspect with suitably developed cognitive skills therefore an extensive explanatory rapport building is not required. A rather relaxed environment and friendly tone will do the needful. I would move onto asking about Michael’s family, his likes and dislikes and what he adores and dislikes about his family.

These questions will be open-ended and will be intended to allow him to talk and express his feelings about his family particularly about his sister. After that, some ground rules will be established like he is supposed to tell me if he does not understand something, importance of truth-lie, correcting me as an investigator if I get something wrong (Cordisco, n.d). I would also suggest him only to share things that he knows and does not guess. I would then move onto actual interview questions after asking him about