CFI Legal & Ethical Issues 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A false confession obtained through prolonged sleep deprivation would most likely be challenged under which legal doctrine?
- The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine
- The totality-of-circumstances voluntariness test (Correct answer)
- The inevitable discovery exception
- The good-faith exception
Correct answer: The totality-of-circumstances voluntariness test
Courts evaluate confession voluntariness under the totality of circumstances, and physical deprivation like sleep deprivation is a key factor indicating coercion.
Question 2: The NICHD Protocol is considered ethically significant in child forensic interviewing primarily because it:
- Shortens interview time to reduce child fatigue
- Uses scientifically validated, non-suggestive techniques that protect children's testimony integrity (Correct answer)
- Allows parents to be present during all questioning
- Requires mandatory videotaping in all jurisdictions
Correct answer: Uses scientifically validated, non-suggestive techniques that protect children's testimony integrity
The NICHD Protocol is evidence-based and minimizes suggestibility, protecting both the child's well-being and the integrity of the investigative process.
Question 3: An interviewer discovers during a pre-interview review that a key piece of exculpatory evidence exists. Ethically, the interviewer should:
- Withhold the information to avoid influencing the interview outcome
- Disclose the existence of the evidence to the appropriate parties and document it (Correct answer)
- Destroy the evidence if it conflicts with witness statements
- Wait until after sentencing to reveal the evidence
Correct answer: Disclose the existence of the evidence to the appropriate parties and document it
Ethical forensic practice and Brady obligations require that exculpatory evidence be disclosed to appropriate parties rather than suppressed or ignored.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes 'informed consent' in the context of a forensic interview with a competent adult witness?
- Telling the subject the interview will be recorded after it begins
- Explaining the purpose, voluntary nature, and potential uses of the interview before it starts (Correct answer)
- Obtaining a signed waiver for all future legal proceedings
- Informing the subject only if they are a suspect
Correct answer: Explaining the purpose, voluntary nature, and potential uses of the interview before it starts
Informed consent requires disclosing relevant information—including purpose, voluntariness, and how information may be used—before the interview begins.
Question 5: When a forensic interviewer suspects child abuse during a civil investigation, mandatory reporting laws typically require:
- Reporting only if the interviewer has a law enforcement credential
- Immediate reporting to child protective services or law enforcement regardless of employment role (Correct answer)
- Reporting only after the civil case is resolved
- Internal reporting to the employer first, then CPS within 30 days
Correct answer: Immediate reporting to child protective services or law enforcement regardless of employment role
Mandatory reporting statutes in all U.S. states require designated reporters—and often any person—to report suspected child abuse immediately to the appropriate authorities.
Question 6: A CFI who fabricates interview notes to support a predetermined conclusion is most directly violating which professional ethical standard?
- Confidentiality
- Integrity and honesty (Correct answer)
- Competence
- Respect for autonomy
Correct answer: Integrity and honesty
Falsifying documentation violates the core ethical obligation of integrity, which requires practitioners to be honest and accurate in all professional activities.
Question 7: Under the exclusionary rule, evidence gathered in violation of a suspect's constitutional rights is generally:
- Admissible if it corroborates other evidence
- Inadmissible in the prosecution's case-in-chief (Correct answer)
- Admissible only in civil proceedings
- Admissible if the interviewer acted in good faith
Correct answer: Inadmissible in the prosecution's case-in-chief
The exclusionary rule bars unconstitutionally obtained evidence from being used in the government's case-in-chief, though exceptions like good faith may apply in specific circumstances.
CFI Legal & Ethical Issues 3
A false confession obtained through prolonged sleep deprivation would most likely be challenged under which legal doctrine?