statement made or given orally or in writing” [7]. The court can look at factors, such as the timing of the confession in the context of the arrest or arraignment, or whether the suspect knew the nature of the offense, or whether the suspect had been advised of their right to an attorney and did they have an attorney present [8].
If a suspect chooses to waive their rights and decides to respond to your questions without an attorney present, they can also choose to reassert them at any time during the interview. A suspect has the right to remain silent and not answer any questions. A suspect is also constitutionally protected when they decide to answer some questions but invoke their right to remain silent on other questions [9].
A suspect has a right to an attorney and the minute they request an attorney all questioning must cease. Although the suspect “must unambiguously request counsel,” [10] such “that a reasonable police officer in the circumstances would understand the statement to be a request for an attorney” [10], there is no set terminology for this request. Statements such as “I think I should get a lawyer” and “[m]aybe I should talk to a lawyer” have been upheld as invocations of a suspect's right to counsel [11, 12]. If you improperly continue to question a suspect after they have requested an attorney, that part of your interview will be inadmissible as evidence. Be aware of your surroundings and the statements made by the person you are questioning at all times as they will be scrutinized later in court.
5.4 Building Rapport
There is a wealth of training materials and research available around the importance of building rapport with an interview subject. Studies have determined that particular verbal techniques as well as reading body language and “mimicry” are helpful in establishing trust, which in turn invites the subject to speak more openly, producing an interview product that is more accurate, detailed, and helpful to the investigation [13, 14].
Many individuals will be nervous and anxious at the prospect of being interviewed, regardless of whether they are a suspect or a witness. You can mitigate this through your demeanor and by beginning the interview with some deliberate conversation, aimed at putting the subject at ease.
The interviewer should invest time into building a rapport that may alleviate some of the subject's anxiety. It may be tempting to start with “small talk” about the weather or the local sports team, and while this may do some good, really trying to relate to the subject through a sincere mutual connection will produce more meaningful results [15].
Interviews are heavy with questions. Establishing a connection is a time for you, the interviewer, to humanize yourself to the subject by telling them something about yourself, ideally something they can relate to. For example, if you approach a subject who is working on their car's engine, you might offer up a story about a car repair that vexed you in order to illuminate a common experience. It has nothing to do with the details you will be questioning the subject about shortly, but it goes far to build trust and foster open communication. It is also a time for you to show empathy, an important trait to display to interview subjects [16].
Your body language also influences the subject's willingness to open up to you. Some subjects will not immediately respond to your efforts to build rapport and you will need to continue to make intentional efforts to connect throughout the interview. Adopt a casual posture, with hands and arms relaxed and visible. Indicate that you are listening by showing interest, making eye contact, nodding, and so forth. Mirroring is a behavioral technique in which the interviewer subtly copies a subject's mannerisms and tone, as a way of building trust and showing understanding. This is especially helpful when supporting a positive interaction. In situations where a subject becomes angry or volatile, you can often subdue them simply by adopting a demeanor that is the opposite of theirs. If they begin to yell, you might lower your voice and slow your speech in response, which will then encourage the subject to mirror you [17].
Time invested in learning and practicing rapport‐building strategies is worthwhile. As you learn new techniques, practice them in casual settings with friends and family, and gauge their responses as a way of knowing what to expect in the field.
5.5 Ask Clear and Direct Open‐Ended Questions
After you have reviewed all materials available and determined the goals of the interview and the information you are seeking to gain from the subject, you may prepare your questions. When possible, questions should follow the timeline of the case, though in some cases questions may address details that happened even before the timeline of events relevant to the crime. For example, you might begin by asking about how a witness first met the suspect and the nature of their relationship prior to any of the events you are investigating. You want your subject to feel as comfortable speaking with you as possible by the time your most important questions are posed to them. Facilitate this by allowing the subject to give you some background in their own words and without interruption.
Interview questions should be open‐ended. Open‐ended questions are ones that cannot be answered with “yes” or “no.” They require an answer, as well as an explanation, and will supply you with important details to consider in your investigation. Open‐ended questions draw out information. They also do not feed information to the subject by telling them in advance the information you are seeking.
Consider the following examples of an interview following a report of a man kicking a dog:
Example A
Interviewer:
“Did you witness the suspect in an angry and intoxicated state yelling at and abusing the dog in the parking lot?”
Witness:
“Yes.”
Interviewer:
“Did you see the suspect kick the dog in the parking lot last Wednesday?”
Subject:
“No.”
Example B
Interviewer:
“What happened in the parking lot between the suspect and the dog last Wednesday?”
Witness:
“I was leaving my shift at the bank, and I saw a man and a woman across the parking lot. The woman was crying, and the man was grabbing at her little brown dog's leash. The man fell down twice and was unsteady on his feet, but he managed to get the dog away from her, falling to the ground a third time in the process. The man was yelling at the dog. The woman was crying. She got into a black car and got on her cell phone.”
Interviewer:
“What happened next?”
Witness:
“The man stood up and picked up the dog by the leash. It was hanging a couple of feet off the ground and making an awful sound. He tried to kick it but missed and then he slammed the dog down against the pavement at least three times. The dog got away from the man and kind of crawled back to the woman in the car and she picked it up and drove away.”
Example B began with open‐ended questions and led to the witness supplying the investigator with some valuable details they can follow up on:
While the man attempted to kick the dog, he failed in this and actually committed other cruel acts toward the dog (hanging, slamming).
Who was the woman
