Saturday, January 28, 2006

Expertise in High-End Coercive Tactics

A New Hampshire man is not to be found.

Prosecutors say the man suffered a fatal heart attack while strapped to a medieval torture device in the lair of a Massachusetts dominatrix. According to police, the dominatrix confessed to them that her boyfriend dismembered and buried the body after the client gave out under the stress. But the confession was not taped, the police destroyed their notes, and the body parts haven't been found.

The dominatrix is now awaiting a jury's verdict on a manslaughter charge. The sole witness called on her behalf was Berkeley sociologist Richard Ofshe, who opined that people will say all sorts of things when subjected to "high-end psychologically coercive tactics." In the right circumstances, said Ofshe, people will confess to anything you please, whether they're really guilty or not.

We don't doubt it for a minute.

Update 1/31/06: Not guilty, says the jury.

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Fed. R. Evid. 702: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.