with respect to interrogation analysis it's no secret the benefit of hindsight gives you a considerable advantage when evaluating information when you know a subject is guilty it allows you to exclusively look for guilty behavior the knowledge of outcome highlights the imperatives while stripping away non-essentials and this allows you to calculate certain things that would otherwise be overlooked by cause of your own doubt hindsight is 20 20. everyone is well aware of this aphorism and what's fascinating is that it not only applies but is far more compatible to the innocent than it is to the guilty
the reason for this is because the information you have to scrutinize is reduced when dealing with innocent subjects when you remove the versatile factors of misdirection and trickery you're left with relatively straightforward behavior in comparison of course the argument that everyone is different and can react in a different manner has merit human beings are unique and there will always be exceptions to every rule especially when you take into consideration that trauma can cause atypical behavior yet atypical behavior and guilty behavior are generally distinguished from each other with relative ease and that brings us to example
number one 37 year old michael dixon described by his peers as popular friendly but also unassuming and reserved a self-professed introvert who turned down a job as a trade show presenter due to his fear of public speaking and kept his position as a trade show assembler instead on august 15 2003 in hamilton ontario police were called to report a man breaking into a jewelry store two officers responded and chased the perpetrator from the store down an alley before momentarily losing sight of them at the same time michael dixon was getting off a bus nearby coming
home from work he was the first person the police saw when coming out of the alley and was then arrested at gunpoint dixon voiced his innocence but didn't resist arrest and stated he would help in any way he could he was taken to the hamilton police station and questioned two hours after his [Music] arrest i'm sorry to keep you waiting michael [Music] one could advocate this as a common policing misstep if it weren't for the suspect being described as a small white man in the 9-1-1 call as well as not being white dixon is 6'3
this detective has either forgotten standard procedure to review the call to dispatch or for some reason decided to reject it as evidence altogether michael is informed the room is being recorded and then read his rights he asserts he is willing to speak with a detective and help with the investigation okay why we're here is because earlier tonight you were arrested for breaking out to a jewelry store on john street south um now your innocence and guilt in this quite frankly uh isn't an issue the evidence i have is frankly conclusive and overwhelming okay um so
i'm not even gonna ask you if you did it what am i what what i have to ascertain here is what kind of guy you are what am i what i have to ask the subject maintains a forward-leaning posture and keeps his eyes both in contact and on the same level as the detectives he displays self-confidence and poise while it's the detective in fact who gives off a nervous disposition what michael just did is known as a non-verbal challenge in forensic psychology so let's break it down into components in the next moment the detective will
shift in his seat to adjust his position and at the same time break eye contact to look somewhere in this direction michael's exaggerated head movement that follows isn't for the purpose of maintaining eye contact he could maintain it while keeping his head perfectly still it is in fact to let the detective know he is maintaining eye contact it's a way of asserting dominance in the exchange he is telling the detective that he is the more confident person in the room at that moment what am i what i have to ascertain here is what kind of
guy you are um whether this is you're like a serial burglar and this is what you're doing all the time or whether this is a one-off thing because of the power cut and everything that's going on tonight that's that's all we're here for um okay i understand your position like i said here i didn't do i didn't do it and you've heard that million times since you're in your career but it's just ask me questions that's all i can do is answer them i guess i've got questions to ask you i mean why did you
do it that's that's basically yeah that's that's what any question coming from that position and i'm and since i'm saying i didn't do it i really don't have an answer for you except to say i didn't do it i guess we haven't really got a really a great amount of time yeah it's it's like i said that whether you did it or not is it for the discussion okay oh well um it's really not you've no doubt come to notice how incredibly tolerant michael is over the injustice of the situation it's the most unusual thing
about his behavior and perhaps what makes him an anomaly with respect to innocent subjects so before moving on to the second phase of this interrogation we'll show you a more common response from an innocent subject facing similar charges this is 26 year old justin falsely accused of breaking and entering first-degree theft and assault he was arrested at his home and only read his rights to silence on the way to the police station the footage will begin before the subject knows what exactly he is being charged with in his mind he knows he has done nothing
wrong and at this point is unaware he is about to be wrongfully imprisoned for just over two years you know what i read you earlier the 19th of february two days ago so it'll be tuesday all right about five six in the morning where were you at then i was at my mother's house you call her and ask her just downstairs asleep does she know did you know you were asleep at that time yeah he doesn't see the interrogators as a threat but more of an inconvenience his responses are short and concise he does not
seek approval he only responds to a question or states a point i mean did she see you sleeping at that time yeah i'll never leave my i ain't doing nothing to stay at my mother's house so i'm not working i'm at home you weren't you didn't go to labor ready that day you're nothing looking for looking for a job yeah okay that morning house got broken into okay the detective's strategy is to reveal the charges in a periodic manner getting a confession to one charge at a time is far easier than gaining admission to all
of them at once the plan is to reveal the break-in and robbery charge first then reveal the assault at a later stage the detective goes on to explain that the accuser named candy said she saw him loitering around her house in the evening hours of the night and a short time later witnessed him break in and steal a multitude of valuable items the detective then explains that she picked him out of a 12-picture lineup of suspects she says you broke in this apartment okay well tell me why justin is now aware of the burglary charge
which holds a possible 20-year prison sentence due to previous convictions he will now begin to forcefully assert his innocence and each time he does so will bring forward his posture and strengthen his vocal emphasis while making the assertion all right so i mean she's saying that i was there before what she's saying she's saying she see my face before the act before the break-in happened cause i didn't break in her house i don't know who she is i don't know what you're talking about i don't know no girl they can't eat none of you man
why is she saying that you're i don't know why she's saying she's i don't know why i don't know what were you doing there i was not there i was not i don't know this girl candy the only candy that i even heard of is this a guy named tim stall dancer the person he just mentioned was the accuser's ex-boyfriend okay that's it how do you know tim stark i grew up with the dude man the accuser's testimony was later picked apart in court she was caught lying on the stand multiple times and justin was
exonerated he was proven innocent not just beyond all reasonable doubt but essentially beyond all doubt the last thing i heard about them too she had him arrested for domestic violence that's all i know about this girl candy i never went that girl's house none of that [ __ ] i didn't do that [ __ ] i did this god is my [ __ ] witness i did not do it i used to be a piece of [ __ ] when i got a [ __ ] tissue i told myself what going back i ain't done
enough work my [ __ ] ass off the entire time i've been out can you can you prove other than you saying good night is it that morning what can you tell how can you prove to me that you were at home all you gotta do is call or ask my mother so you're telling me you didn't step foot out of house not one foot tuesday not boring the detective then goes on to reveal justin is accused of assaulting the supposed victim during the robbery take a van in here and you hit her over the
head with it you guys fight and she got injuries no man i'm healed mom man get her dog your boyfriend tim stone and question him about her goddamn injuries look at that straight right dirty this sounds like he's a goddamn thing of [ __ ] her boyfriend tim stole the [ __ ] done something to her and now they're trying to put it on me that's exactly i know that's what the [ __ ] this is look that's why we're talking to you okay no this is [ __ ] man cause i've tried everything in
my [ __ ] power to stay the [ __ ] out of this goddamn [ __ ] penitentiary [ __ ] i did not do that [ __ ] man okay that's that's what we're talking to we're here to we're here to investigate this okay that's why we're asking all these questions i'm sorry freaking out man but i didn't [ __ ] do this [ __ ] man i'm talking shaking i not [ __ ] doing this man justin had already served three years in prison for a robbery in his early twenties he more than
likely knew the reassuring tone of the investigator wasn't a good sign although slightly more animated than the average person this form of aggression is a commonplace response from the innocent being directly accused he comes off aggressive but in a defensive manner he is not being hostile but highly combative when professing his innocence his conduct is totally justified considering the circumstance when facing a considerable amount of time in prison for something you didn't do this level of anger is warranted so when compared to the forgiving composure of michael dixon the extraordinary nature of his behavior becomes
even more pronounced i really don't have an answer for you except to say i didn't do it i guess we haven't really got a really a great amount yeah it's it's like i said that whether you did it or not is enough for the discussion okay well um it's really not there's a number the number of witnesses great one of them had a video camera perfect yeah okay guys that's relieving that's relieving be quite honest yeah so view the video camera i have okay that's why your guilt isn't in an issue here that doesn't even
make sense to me because if i'm on the video camera that doesn't make sense you have a video camera that shows me yeah that doesn't make sense it makes perfect sense to me um we'll have to i guess i have no choice but to get a lawyer then if this is the kind of thing you're going to go through because this isn't going to go away you're charged with breaking any you will be charged we will be going to court in the morning perhaps the most upsetting moment considering the fact that we know this man
is innocent you can see the fear emerge in his eyes as he realizes he won't be going home after this interview uh charged with breaking and it was intent okay that's that's what's gonna happen right now he is noticeably afraid of what lies ahead yet reacts to the situation with reasoning and intuitiveness can i ask you something okay are you just making this up that you have a video camera so you see how i react because it goes that if you're saying okay hear me out first please if i am guilty as you believe because
you have me on video camera then okay we'll go through the procedure but i'm saying i i you know trying to call your bluff here because since i know i didn't do it there's no way i can be on the video camera well like i say this isn't it's not game of poker okay i've got nothing i'm not trying to give you a hard time right you know what i've got nothing to gain from that either way um which is why i'm not asking you did you do it i'm gonna try and catch you out
i've got nothing to gain from that getting a confession void of evidence is in fact excellent for an investigator's career it's a mark of merit and can accelerate promotion michael continues to profess his innocence in a calm and composed manner for a further seven minutes the detective then asks that he draw out a map and specify his movements before the arrest every detail of his alibi was later proven to be 100 accurate like i said on the information that i've got you you're going to be charged tonight with breaking anna however i do have a
duty to make sure that the truth is the true basically the truth is paramount and the true the true version of events is paramount and i have a duty um to investigate all of this and i will investigate i assure you i'll investigate this story thoroughly and uh hopefully um i'll be able to find something here all right which will either prove or disprove okay you know what we've discussed tonight okay the problem is the speed of which this is going yeah you know like when i was on the ground i think go quickly to
the terminal i have like six or so guys around me you know like talk to the bus driver right you know like i just like i can't i mean i can't comment on things like okay unfortunately um but now i'm i'm left hanging right now i'm looking at this i mean this is the basically on the evidence i've got this is the only course of events that can take place right now but i will certainly make sure that this is locked into thoroughly okay i can give you much word on that that's my tv that's
that's what i have to do yeah i trust you well i was just wondering can i make a phone call because i'm supposed to be at work at it well you're not going to be able to be a walker yeah i know i'm not gonna be older but i like to phone ahead i can arrange that uh that you get the phone call to let someone know that you're not gonna be our place yeah so i'm hanging out in that room till 10. no we'll be taking you downstairs uh to uh a larger custody facility
which you have downstairs well it's not the most pleasant place in a while but it's only for a few hours okay okay uh from from court tomorrow what happens there i don't know okay well i'm kind of freaking out i trust you will yeah i trust you you know i'll make sure we got the whole picture okay okay well thank you i guess okay uh you're not in an enviable position and uh you know i understand the like the process i just i'm not satisfied with it that's what i'm saying you know and i don't
underst i don't and expect that you're gonna be happy with it you know and i'm thinking in no disrespect to you but i know someone sending this chair has probably lied to you a million times right so i'm thinking what can i do i'm going to convince you i try to give you the information you've been you've been very good with me and i i try and treat everybody as an individual okay my name is two things is that you get your rights that you're you're entitled to under the constitution of canada and that you
treat decently and the truth comes out the truth eventually did come out but the suspect wasn't treated decently he was kept in jail for three and a half days before a separate investigator looked into his alibi witnesses and checked surveillance of the area in question he was then exonerated immediately a civil trial ensued and michael was awarded forty six thousand dollars in punitive damages the interrogating officer and three other investigators were all demoted and suspended without pay
