Forensic Topics – Page 2 – Arizona Forensic Services, LLC

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CONFESSIONS: PEACE Interviewing Technique

This legislative research report compares the Reid interrogation method with criticisms and alternative approaches, including PEACE and the Kinesic Interview. It outlines Reid’s factual analysis, behavior-analysis interview, and accusatory interrogation stages, then describes PEACE as a less confrontational framework used in England, while presenting disputes about the evidence behind deception cues and false-confession risks.

COUNTERING Counterintuitive Testimony (Adult, handout)

Often prosecution utilizes a counterintuitive “expert” to explain away problematic behaviors on the part of the complaining witness. Dr. Simpson offers a CLE training and 85-page handout on how to effectively challenge their expert.

Seven specific strategies for cross
A cure for a non-problem
Accounting for true, unfounded, or false sexual assault claims
Symptoms are not falsifiable
Motivations for intentional false reporting
Failure to account for confounding variables
Confirmation bias
The devil is in the details.
Critique of:
Freeze-Flight-Fight and Tonic Immobility
Acting normal following the alleged assault
Delayed disclosure
Continued relationship with the accused
Inconsistent, piecemeal, changing or incomplete memories
Recantation

COUNTERING Counterintuitive Testimony (Child, handout)

This State Bar of Arizona handout examines testimony about children’s responses and behavior in child sexual abuse cases. It surveys issues including disclosure timing, changing accounts, continued contact, interviewing practices, possible confounds, confirmation bias, and research relevant to evaluating competing explanations.

Disinhibition and Alcohol

This collection reviews research on alcohol-related disinhibition and behavior, especially sexual responses, decision-making, and risk-taking. The included studies discuss social disinhibition alongside learning, expectations, and individual factors, showing that researchers have examined several possible pathways rather than treating disinhibition as a universal response to alcohol.

Dissociative Disorder and Malingering

This collection summarizes research and clinical articles concerning dissociative disorders, malingering, and diagnostic questions in forensic contexts. The entries address self-report measures, differential diagnosis, simulated symptoms, memory, and the dissociative subtype of PTSD.

DRUG: Ambien Side Effects

This resource compiles information about zolpidem (Ambien), including reported medication interactions and labeled effects on alertness, memory, and coordination. Its interaction summaries describe possible increased drowsiness, confusion, and impaired judgment when zolpidem is combined with alcohol or other medicines, while the included product-label material reports study findings on next-day effects.

DRUG: Cocaine

Cocaine is described as an addictive stimulant that may be snorted, rubbed on the gums, injected, or smoked as crack. The overview covers its effects on the brain and body, risks associated with repeated use or adulterated supply, and treatment approaches discussed in the source.

DRUG: Marijuana and Psychosis

The article surveys research and case reports linking cannabis use, including synthetic cannabinoids, with psychotic experiences and other psychiatric symptoms. It summarizes longitudinal evidence associating regular or heavy cannabis use with increased psychosis risk, while emphasizing that observational findings leave uncertainty about causation and individual vulnerability.

DRUG: MDMA / “Molly”

MDMA, also called Ecstasy or Molly, is described as a synthetic drug that affects mood, perception, energy, and sensory experience. The source outlines common forms of use, changes to dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin activity, and reported short- and longer-term health effects.

DRUG: Methamphetamine and Psychosis

The article reviews evidence that high-dose amphetamine or methamphetamine can produce a paranoid psychosis, sometimes with hallucinations, in a clear state of consciousness. Historical case reports and experimental studies describe varied courses after drug cessation, including rapid remission and, in some cases, prolonged vulnerability or recurrence.

DRUG: Methaphetamine

Methamphetamine is a stimulant that the source describes in powder, pill, and crystal forms, with several routes of use. The overview discusses dopamine effects, short- and long-term health consequences, and research on changes in cognition, memory, and brain function associated with prolonged use.

Drugs that Potentiate Alcohol (Part 2 – National Institute of Health)

This National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism brochure explains that alcohol can change how medicines work and that medicines can alter alcohol’s effects. It gives examples of prescription and over-the-counter drug interactions, describes possible effects such as drowsiness and impaired coordination, and includes guidance on reading medication labels and finding further information.

Drugs that Potentiate Alcohol (Part 3 – Marijuana)

This collection examines research on alcohol and marijuana used together, including whether their combined effects relate to blackouts and other harms. The studies summarized consider college and young-adult populations, patterns of simultaneous or concurrent use, and factors such as gender, motives, and amount consumed when examining reported consequences.

EVALUATION: Malingering

This article presents the DSM description of malingering as the intentional production or exaggeration of symptoms for an external incentive. It lists circumstances that may raise suspicion and distinguishes malingering from factitious and conversion disorders by motivation, intentionality, and the presence of external incentives.

EVALUATION: Testing and Fatigue/Depression

The cited literature examines how fatigue and depression relate to cognitive testing and neuropsychological performance. Studies address cognitive fatigue in multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury, as well as depression-related performance across memory, attention, and other measures, with reviews and meta-analyses reporting variable effects across test types and samples.

False and Unfounded Allegations

This resource surveys research and debates about false and unfounded sexual assault allegations, distinguishing intentional false reports from cases that are unproven or classified as unfounded. It summarizes studies with differing methods and estimates, including reviews of case files and reporting practices, and notes that classification choices and research limitations complicate prevalence estimates.

Fight/Flight/Freeze

The resource reviews fight, flight, and freeze as possible responses to perceived danger, including tonic immobility and other passive reactions. It explains physiological stress responses and summarizes research proposing a broader sequence of defensive reactions, while noting that responses may vary with age and sex.

Flexeril and Alcohol

This brief resource describes warnings about combining cyclobenzaprine, sold under the brand name Flexeril, with alcohol. The cited medication information says the drug may enhance alcohol’s effects, and the accompanying interaction summary lists possible concerns including drowsiness, dizziness, impaired motor control, unusual behavior, and memory problems.

IPV: Dimensions of Violence and Control

Intimate partner violence is examined through patterns of violence, control, and related dynamics. The compilation covers topics including undue influence, jealousy, victim self-blame, trauma bonding, threats, isolation, minimization, use of children or pets, male privilege, and economic abuse, drawing on research and practice literature.

IPV: Domestic Violence and Suicide

The articles examine reported links between intimate partner violence, psychiatric symptoms, and suicide attempts. They examine hospital use and psychiatric symptoms among battered women, including reported suicide attempts, depression, anxiety, and other correlates, across follow-up and case-control samples, and compare findings with matched or control groups.

IPV: Duluth Model

The source presents the Duluth Model as one framework for understanding and responding to intimate partner violence. It reviews the model’s theoretical basis, research critiques and defenses, and comparisons with other perpetrator and victim interventions, including reported recidivism patterns and calls to incorporate trauma and substance-use treatments.

IPV: Female Initiated Violence Against Men

The collected material examines intimate partner violence perpetrated by women against male partners. It presents research and review findings on male victims, including reported physical abuse, controlling behavior, fear, injury, help-seeking, and how reciprocal violence relates to injury; the studies also describe varied patterns and contexts of partner violence.

IPV: Self-Blame by the Victim

The research collection considers how survivors of intimate partner violence may blame themselves for abuse. The cited research considers characterological and behavioral self-blame, perceived control, shame, and psychological adjustment among women experiencing intimate partner violence, with studies reporting associations involving self-esteem, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and abuse experiences.

IPV: Violence and Sexual Assault

This resource examines the relationship between intimate partner violence and sexual assault. It compiles research on coerced sexual activity within relationships, including a Tehran survey of married women that assessed associations with other violence, psychological symptoms, and marital attitudes, alongside research on responses to sexual abuse.

Memory Drift

This compilation gathers research using the term ‘drift’ in studies of memory strength, recall, forgetting, and decision processes, alongside work on warning signals and predator memory. The cited papers examine different tasks and models, including delayed judgments of learning and age-related memory performance, so the collection presents research topics rather than direct evidence about memory changes in a particular witness.