research paper on narco analysis

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• v.134(1); 2011 Jul

Supreme Court judgment on polygraph, narco-analysis & brain-mapping: A boon or a bane

Suresh bada math.

Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (Deemed University), Bangalore 560 029, India ni.cin.rak.snahmin@mbs , moc.liamg@snahmin

Introduction

The deception detection tests (DDT) such as polygraph, narco-analysis and brain-mapping have important clinical, scientific, ethical and legal implications 1 . The DDTs are useful to know the concealed information related to crime. This information, which is known only to self, is sometimes crucial for criminal investigation 2 . The DDTs have been used widely by the investigating agencies. However, investigating agencies know that the extracted information cannot be used as evidence during the trial stage. They have contested that it is safer than ‘third degree methods’ used by some investigators. Here, the claim is that, by using these so called, “scientific procedures” in fact-finding, it will directly help the investigating agencies to gather evidences, and thereby increase the rate of prosecution of the guilty and the rate of acquittal of the innocent 3 . Recently, these methods are being promoted as more accurate and best to none, without convincing evidence. In a landmark judgment, the apex court of India has clearly stated that DDTs cannot be administered without consent 3 .

The core debate arising out of the DDT is its legality of using inhuman degrading methods to confess the crime. The interrogation of the accused plays a vital role in collecting evidence. If the accused remains silent and does not answer any questions of the investigating agencies then to what extent the investigating agencies can coerce or force the accused to reveal information. In a civilized world police torture is unacceptable to extract information about the crime. Even in the court of law, confession made to a police officer is not valid. Now, the question is, “Can police use DDT to extract information from the accused”? There are many who support the view that in this age of ever increasing crime rate, such tests often help to the investigating agencies but others rejecting it as a clear violation of constitutional provisions. This viewpoint looks into the earlier court's view, recent Supreme Court judgment and scientific basis of DDTs.

Earlier Judgments on DDTs

In a landmark judgment 4 the Madras High Court conveyed that investigating agency is required to complete investigation within a reasonable time, if not, the benefit of delay is given to the accused. If accused fails to co-operate with the investigation process undertaken during custodial interrogation, to unravel the mystery surrounding the crime, scientific investigation methods may have to be carried out to find the truth 4 .

Keeping the same spirit in another judgment, the court had held that the narco-analysis test is a step in aid of investigation 5 . It forms an important base for further investigation as it may lead to collection of further evidences. Therefore, with reference to the proliferation of crimes against society, it is necessary to keep in mind the necessity of the society at large and the need of a thorough and proper investigation as against individual rights while ensuring that constitutional rights are not infringed. Consequently, in the court's opinion, the narco-analysis test does not suffer from any constitutional infirmity as it is a step in aid of investigation and any self incriminatory statement, if made by the accused, cannot be used or relied upon by the prosecution. The court ordered the accused to undergo the narco-analysis test in stipulated period 5 . These judgments were clearly supporting the use of DDTs in investigations.

Recent Supreme Court judgment on DDTs

The Supreme Court judgment 3 on May 5, 2010 related to the involuntary administration of DDT for the purpose of improving investigation efforts in criminal cases was questioned on the account of violation of fundamental rights such as:

• ( i ) ‘Right against self-incrimination’ enumerated in Article 20(3) of the Constitution, which states that no person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself/herself, and
• ( ii ) Article 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) has been judicially expanded to include a ‘right against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment’.

DDT also raises serious concerns related to the professional ethics of medical personnel involved in the administration of these techniques and violation of human rights of an individual 3 . Concerns regarding human rights violations in conducting DDTs were raised long back and the National Human Rights Commission had published Guidelines in 2000 for the Administration of Polygraph tests 6 . However, only few of the investigating agencies seen to follow these guidelines.

Scientific evidence of DDTs

Narco-analysis : This test involves the intravenous administration of a drug (such as sodium pentothal, scopolamine and sodium amytal) that causes the subject to enter into various stages of anaesthesia. In the hypnotic stage, the subject becomes less inhibited and is more likely to divulge information, which would usually not be revealed in the conscious state. He or she may also divulge all his/her fantasies, personal wishes, impulses, instinctual drive, illusions, delusions, conflicts, misinterpretations, etc . The main drawback of this technique is that some persons are able to retain their ability to deceive even in the hypnotic state, while others can become extremely suggestible to questioning. This is especially worrying, since investigators may frame questions in a manner that may prompt incriminatory responses. The drugs used do not guarantee that the subject will speak only the truth. The statements made in a hypnotic state are not voluntary and are also not in a clear state of mind; hence these have not been admitted as evidence in the court of law. Narco-analysis “without consent” raises certain issues such as ( i ) a physical assault on the body by giving injections and also multiple painful stimuli such as slapping, pinching, pushing, hitting, shaking the body and so forth to wake a person from hypnotic state to answer the questions, and ( ii ) mental assault through the effect of the injection on his/her mind and also an unrestricted access to the utmost privacy, the privacy of his/her own mind. In the era of evidence-based medicine, it does not have any significant role in the treatment of any psychiatric conditions. Though this technique is known since the Second World War 7 , it has not been supported with adequate research to justify its claim.

Polygraph : This is also called a lie detector test, but this term is a misnomer. The theory behind polygraph tests is that a guilty subject is more likely to be concerned with lying about the relevant facts about the crime, which in turn produces a hyper-arousal state which is picked up by a person trained in reading polygraph results. Measurement of hyper-arousal state is based on a number of parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, skin conductance and electromyography. The principle behind these tests is questionable because the measured changes in arousal state are not necessarily triggered by lying or deception. Instead, these could be triggered by nervousness, anxiety, fear, confusion, hypoglycaemia, psychosis, depression, substance induced (nicotine, stimulants), substance withdrawal state (alcohol withdrawal) or other emotions. This state has also been attributed to the way the questions are asked by the investigating officers. At the same time, it is not difficult to beat polygraph tests by a trained person, who is able to control or suppress his/her arousal symptoms through relaxation exercises, Yoga, meditation, etc . Hence, the reliability of the polygraph test has been repeatedly questioned in empirical studies.

Brain mapping : It measures the changes in the electrical field potentials produced by the sum of the neuronal activity in the brain by means of electrodes placed on the surface of the skin covering the head and face. The changes directly related to specific perceptual or cognitive events are called event-related potentials 8 . In simple words, it is based on the finding that the brain generates a unique brain-wave pattern when a person encounters a familiar stimulus 9 , 10 . Commonly used method in India is called as Brain Electrical Activation Profile test, also known as the ‘P300 Waves test’.

During the test, subjects are exposed to auditory or visual stimuli (pictures, videos and sounds) that are relevant to the facts being investigated alongside other irrelevant words and pictures. Such stimuli can be broadly classified as material ‘probes’ and neutral ‘probes’. The underlying theory is that in the case of guilty suspects, the exposure to the material probes will lead to the emission of P300 wave components which will be duly recorded by the instruments. By examining the records of these wave components, the examiner can make inferences about the individual's familiarity with the information related to the crime 3 , 11 . However, this measures only the memory or knowledge of the crime scene and nothing else. For instance, a by-stander who witnessed a murder could potentially be implicated as an accused if the test reveals that the said person was familiar with the information related to the same. Similarly, little is known about the impact of viewing portrayal of crime scene in the media such as television, movies and newspaper on brain mapping. Hence, this test cannot be used to prosecute an accused but can be used by an innocent as an ‘alibi’ by proving that he/she does not have any memory about the crime on this test.

The published literature on this technique is very sparse. The term ‘Brain Fingerprinting’ has not yet entered the Medical Sub-Headings (MeSH) term of -PubMed (Medline). On conducting a literature search in PubMed by combining two MeSH terms “Event-Related Potentials, P300” and “Forensic Medicine” yielded only 23 publications and another PubMed search by combining two MeSH terms “Brain Mapping” AND “Forensic Medicine” (1966-June 2011) yielded only 72 publications. On reviewing this published literature, it was found that results were inconclusive. The sample sizes were small. Majority of the studies were open label and with poor methodology. Sample studied were from the normal population rather than forensic population. Each study has used a different protocol to interpret the data. There was one interesting study which reported that deception detection based on P300 amplitude as a recognition index may be readily defeated with simple countermeasures that can be easily learned 12 . Non availability of data on the effect of brain wave mapping on neurological conditions (such as stroke, dementia, delirium, head injury, amnestic syndromes, etc .) and psychiatric conditions (such as substance intoxication or dependence conditions, schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders) makes matters worse. There is a paucity of data on this technique, and applicability of this technique in the forensic field is remote at this point of time 9 , 10 . There are several ongoing research studies using functional brain imaging studies in the field of brain mapping, however, results from these studies are also inconclusive and researchers have recommended that the functional brain images in brain mapping also should not be admitted as evidence in the court of law 13 .

In conclusion, DDT has faced a number of criticisms and it is still unclear to what degree lie detectors and brain mapping can be used to reveal concealed knowledge in applied real-world settings. The Supreme Court judgment on involuntary DDTs is that it has no place in the judicial process. On the contrary, it will disrupt proceedings, cause delays, and lead to numerous complications which will result in no greater degree of certainty in the process than that which already exists 3 . Contemporary DDT needs to undergo rigorous research in normative and pathological populations. Premature application of these technologies outside research settings should be resisted. The vulnerability of the techniques to countermeasures also needs to be explored. It is also important to know the sensitivity and specificity of these tests. There should be standard operating guidelines for conducting DDT. The recent Supreme Court judgment on DDT is admirable from the scientific, human rights, ethical, legal and constitutional perspectives.

Acknowledgments

Author thanks Dr Maria Christine Nirmala for her valuable comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest : none.

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IMPORTANCE OF NARCO ANALYSIS TEST IN INVESTIGATION AND IT'S ADMISSIBILITY

Narcoanalysis has been introduced as a tool in the investigation before a few year ago.Under this test the person goes into the subconscious state by passing the serum and answer the questions on the basis of knowledge,whatever persent in their mind.Now,the question arise, is third degree better than the Narcoanalysis test? Narcoanalysis test is one of the topic of debate for its uses in the investigation.In India the main issues in context of this test are firstly,whether the Narcoanalysis is hit by article 20 of the Constitution i.e self incrimination ? and secondly, whether the statement made under the above mentioned test ,come under the purview of section 25 and 26 of the Indian Evidence Act?Under this article the author will research, on these issues and upon remedies to remove the hurdles in the implementation of narcoanaysis.

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Criminal discovery v. The Right against Self-Incrimination has been a persistent debate when the topic of discussion is a Narco-Analysis test. I wish to understand the relevance of a Narco test in today’s scenario when the gravity of the crimes being committed to has increased. It has always been so in the Criminal Law that the greater right must be leaned towards. The right of society to live. To live in peace and security and with dignity. So, when the rights of the accused are pitted against that of an entire society, the former seems rather feeble. But even then, the courts take measures to equally weigh and protect the rights of both the parties. How does one place the legality of the Narco test in such a scenario? The technological advancement that the test provides takes strands in providing justice and in increasing the conviction rate in India. In that case what should be the actual standard for judging the validity of the Narco test? Through this paper, I wish to analyze the validity of the test and the relevance of the test today in the light of the gravity of the crimes and the urgency to deliver justice.

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The increasing demand to dispose of the cases swiftly, police often resort to third-degree methods to extract information from the individual; and in the process violate the fundamental rights to life and personal liberty stated under article 21 of the constitution of India. With the development of science and technology quickly eliciting the information is possible by adopting methods of polygraph, brain mapping, and narco analysis. In the past various experts, committees and judgements in courts have recommended these technologies to be used. Though there is a demand, it also raises serious legal, ethical and medical issues. Through this article we attempted to analyze the issues from various angles, and should take steps in the future to implement them.

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An Analysis of Pandemic-Era Inflation in 11 Economies

In a collaborative project with ten central banks, we have investigated the causes of the post-pandemic global inflation, building on our earlier work for the United States. Globally, as in the United States, pandemic-era inflation was due primarily to supply disruptions and sharp increases in the prices of food and energy; however, and in sharp contrast to the 1970s, the inflationary effects of these supply shocks have not been persistent, in part due to the credibility of central bank inflation targets. As the effects of supply shocks have subsided, tight labor markets, and the rises in nominal wages, have become relatively more important sources of inflation in many countries. In several countries, including the United States, curbing wage inflation and returning price inflation to target may require a period of modestly higher unemployment.

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Researchers from the University of Chicago have demonstrated that large language models (LLMs) can conduct financial statement analysis with accuracy rivaling and even surpassing that of professional analysts. The findings, published in a working paper titled “ Financial Statement Analysis with Large Language Models ,” could have major implications for the future of financial analysis and decision-making.

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Why Are So Many Mexican Election Candidates Getting Killed?

Across Mexico, dozens of candidates, their relatives and party members have been targeted in violent attacks before next month’s general election.

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By Emiliano Rodríguez Mega

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One candidate was shot multiple times as he worked out at the gym. Another died after gunmen opened fire during her campaign rally. A third was walking the streets with her supporters when gunfire broke out .

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Mexico elects leftist Claudia Sheinbaum as the first female president in its history

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Claudia Sheinbaum , a U.S.-educated scientist-turned-politician, was elected Sunday as Mexico’s first female president, shattering gender barriers in a country known for a culture of machismo and high rates of violence against women .

“In 200 years of the Mexican republic, I have become the first woman president,” she told supporters in her acceptance speech, describing her victory as a win for all women. “I did not arrive alone,” she said. “We all arrived.”

The leftist former mayor of Mexico City, Sheinbaum, 61, will also become the first president of Jewish ancestry in the overwhelmingly Catholic country.

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Gálvez supporters, on the other hand, largely said they backed her because she promised to change the course set by López Obrador.

“I’m very angry at this government,” said Julieta Jujnovsky, 45, a professor of biology.

She said she didn’t oppose López Obrador’s ideology so much as his style of governing. “He doesn’t want any opposition,” said Jujnovsky, who described the president’s efforts to reform the Supreme Court, slash the number of seats in Mexico’s legislature and overhaul the country’s elections institute as part of a “deterioration” of Mexico’s democracy. “Democracy depends on counterweights and listening to the other side,” she said.

How Sheinbaum will mange to mend the divisions so evident during López Obrador’s term is one of the many questions hanging over her presidency. And, while López Obrador has vowed to retire from politics, many wonder whether he will indeed stay away from the political fray that has animated his entire adult life.

Sheinbaum, for her part, has dismissed such questions as misogynist.

Her victory was a groundbreaking development in a country where women were barred from voting until 1954.

Her success is in some way a culmination of years of efforts by Mexican authorities to impose gender equality in a nation where politics was traditionally a male affair. A 2019 constitutional reform set quotas requiring gender parity in all elected posts at the federal, state and municipal levels.

Today, more than half of the members of Mexico’s congress are women, the fourth-highest rate in the world. Eight of the nation’s 31 governors are female and a woman heads the Supreme Court.

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Some voters expressed wonderment that Mexico had elected a female leader before much of the rest of the world, including the United States.

“Never in my entire life did I imagine that a woman would be president of my country,” said Cristina Navarrete Santillán, 76, who voted for Sheinbaum in Mexico City alongside her two daughters and two granddaughters. “I am glad to be alive to see it.”

Sunday’s election was Mexico’s largest ever, with voters also choosing a new Congress, eight state governors, the Mexico City mayor and some 20,000 local officeholders nationwide.

Preliminary results showed that Morena performed well in the congressional elections, and would, as part of a coalition with two allied parties, likely have a supermajority that would allow it to easily pass legislation.

In the United States, which is home to nearly 11 million people born in Mexico, migrants who in the past were able only to vote in Mexican elections by mail could vote for the first time in person at consulates.

Long lines of voters stretched for blocks in cities that included Chicago and Orlando, Fla. In Los Angeles, the line at the Mexican Consulate in MacArthur Park wrapped around the block twice, with some people arriving as early as 4 a.m.

Voters draped in Mexican flags waited patiently as mariachi music blasted.

Laura Torres, who arrived with a group from Oxnard, said she had waited six hours to vote and would wait another six if necessary. The group planned to vote for Sheinbaum.

In some parts of Mexico, voters also lined up before dawn.

That was the case in the middle-class neighborhood of San Andres Totoltepec, where Sheinbaum, an environmental engineer by training, was reared and where she voted early Sunday.

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As the candidate took her place in a line of about 100 people to cast her ballot, the crowd broke out in chants of “Presidenta!”

Sheinbaum spent much of her career as an academic, although she was raised in a highly political family.

Both her parents were active in the 1968 student movement, best known for the infamous Tlatelolco massacre in which Mexican security forces killed scores of protesters in the capital. Her first husband was a leftist politican.

When López Obrador was elected mayor of Mexico City in 2000, he launched Sheinbaum’s political career by making her secretary of environment for the capital.

She later joined his breakaway political group, the National Regeneration Movement, known as Morena, and was elected in 2015 as borough president of Tlalpan, a district in southern Mexico City.

Three years later, she was elected mayor of Mexico City and he was elected president in a landslide victory for Morena.

López Obrador vowed to put the “poor first” in a country that he said had been hijacked by a corrupt and conservative elite. López Obrador’s approval rating still tops 60%, making him one of the most popular leaders in Latin America.

When he departs office in October, he will leave his successor with a strong economy that has been bolstered by the relocation of foreign firms from Asia and elsewhere to Mexico. The Mexican peso has been among the world’s strongest currencies.

But the next president will also inherit a number of crises, including dire water shortages , a struggling healthcare system , stubborn inequality and violence from criminal gangs and cartels so severe that the U.S. State Department warns its citizens not to travel to many Mexican states.

López Obrador’s controversial “hugs not bullets” strategy — which prioritizes social programs for the young over direct confrontations with cartels — has failed to stop the country’s violence, although homicides have fallen some during the last six years. Security is by far Mexicans’ main concern, polls show.

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While voters were fiercely split on the issues at the heart of the race, many on both sides of the political divide were elated to have the chance to vote for a woman.

Fewer than a third of the countries in the United Nations have ever had a female leader, according to a Pew Research Center analysis from last year.

Rosa Maria Beltrán, a 39-year-old dentist who voted for Sheinbaum, said she was proud of her country.

“Tell the people in the United States that in Mexico we are going to have a female president before them,” she said.

Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City and Anthony De Leon and Dania Maxwell in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

More to Read

Opinion: Mexico’s election of Claudia Sheinbaum is historic. But should we be celebrating it?

June 4, 2024

Column: What Mexico’s historic presidential election can teach the U.S.

Analysis: How did Mexico elect a female president before the United States? Not by accident

June 3, 2024

Hundreds of voters cast ballots at Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles in historic presidential election

June 2, 2024

Opinion: Mexico’s June 2 election has already made history — for violence

What to know about Mexico’s massive elections on Sunday

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Kate Linthicum is a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times based in Mexico City.

Foreign correspondent Patrick J. McDonnell is the Los Angeles Times Mexico City bureau chief and previously headed Times bureaus in Beirut, Buenos Aires and Baghdad. A native of the Bronx, McDonnell is a graduate of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and was a Nieman fellow at Harvard.

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