Forensic Deception

Forensic Deception

Case Summary

On the night of August 20 , 1989 , Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot to death in the den of their Beverly Hills home . The sons of the victims Eric and Lyle Menendez have confessed to the murders . The brothers are claiming imperfect self-defense , allegedly believing that their parents were allies in a plot to kill them in an effort to hide allegations of Jose 's sexual abuse of his youngest son , Eric ( The Menendez Brothers

Indications of Inaccurate Memories

The main point of the defendants ' story

that points to an inability to remember what occurred , lies in the actions of the Jose and Kitty Menendez at the time of the murders . At one point upon questioning Lyle has stated that he remembered his father .at some point sort of coming forward in my direction ' Upon firing the gun at his father Lyle states : .I believe he fell back ' These statements imply that either he is not certain exactly what occurred , or he is lying in an attempt to back up the imperfect self-defense theory . In addition , Eric later admitted that he did not actually see his father coming towards him , which had previously been stated as the reason why he and his brother fired in a blind panic (The Menendez Brothers . These inconsistencies in memory may also be caused by the stress of the situation

Common Traits of Deceptive Intention

There are some physical , behavioral , verbal and written clues the prosecution should watch for that could help pinpoint areas where the defendants are not being truthful

Physical and behavioral clues may include

Higher pitch in voice

Pressing lips together

Unusual stillness

Thinking for too long when a reply should be immediate

Verbal clues may include

Answering rapidly for questions that were able to be anticipated , while answering more slowly for questions that were not

Unwillingness to talk very much

Stories that do not sound logical

Lack of hand movements

Written clues may include

Fewer 1st person pronouns used in effort to distance themselves from any responsibility

Fewer words such as except , but or nor . A lack of distinguishing between what they did and did not do (Adelson

Polygraph Recommendation

Polygraphs are more accurate in determining guilt than they are at determining innocence . This could work in favor for the prosecution However , a study done by the U .S . Congress reveals a wide variability of results ' from several individual studies , making it impossible to determine a specific overall quantitative measure of polygraph validity

Since the defendants have admitted guilt in this case , the relevant question is whether or not they should be allowed to plead imperfect self-defense . The types of questions that may be asked would be referring to what their thoughts were at that particular moment . It is my opinion that given the evidence in the case , it is not worth the risk of giving the test , and having the defendants pass , as this would potentially cause the jury to lean in favor of...