Miscarriages of Justice

An analysis of interview strategies in high-stakes crime investigations in the UK: Are they fit for purpose?

“…Miscarriages of justice are a result, in part, of ineffective investigative decision making and incompetent investigative interviewers (Poyser et al, 2018). IMs play a significant role during high-stake investigations providing strategic advice to the SIO on all interview matters based on their knowledge and experience to counter such poor practices, thereby providing a safeguard to the interview team and the vulnerable suspect.…”

“…Investigative interviewers should know the purpose of the interview and the value of the information they obtain as an inflexible approach to the adopted interviewing style limits the effectiveness of the investigation (Stephenson and Moston, 1994). Miscarriages of justice cases have taught us that the alternative is ill-prepared interviews and tunnel vision resulting in unjust outcomes, with a lack of oversight which fail to transfer into improved workplace practices (Poyser, et al, 2018;Rossmo and Pollock, 2019;Bull and Milne, 2022). Thus, when strategies are ill-conceived and implemented with limited understanding a strategy could have a dysfunctional impact on the investigative process (Stelfox, 2008).…”

Plagues in Our Criminal Justice System

“…In 2018, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) published a report on wrongful convictions, outlining some of the main causes of wrongful convictions. In this publication, they list eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, jailhouse informers, forensic evidence, expert testimony, and false guilty pleas as being recognized hallmarks of wrongful convictions by many scholars in the field (Campbell, 2018;Bell et al, 2008;Poyser et al, 2018;PPSC, 2018;Roach, 2023;Roberts, 2003).…”