The Effects of Intoxication in Legal Contexts

在美国，尽管人们对醉酒在法律的背景下的影响知之甚少，但醉酒的嫌疑人仍会受到执法部门的例行审讯。具体而言，醉酒如何影响认罪决定，对米兰达权利的理解，可接受性，撒谎能力和询问期间的行为都是未知的。这些问题很重要，因为美国的执法审讯做法因其胁迫性质而受到批评，这些担忧已被证明是虚假供词的案例所证实。最主要的问题是，酒精近视理论表明，醉酒者可能特别容易做出冲动的决定--以牺牲未来的后果为代价，专注于眼前的后果。拟议中的研究是第一个解决这一重大研究空白的研究，研究a）醉酒嫌疑人的认罪决定，以及B）其他人如何看待醉酒嫌疑人。研究1将调查中毒的影响，使用实验室的范式，涉及有罪和无辜的学生被指控作弊的审讯，并将进一步评估中毒如何影响可接受性和米兰达权利的理解。研究二将利用研究一的审讯录像，考察学生和执法人员对真假认罪者和真假否认者的真实性判断，以及这些陈述中表现出的行为。目前的研究将有助于加深对中毒对嫌疑人行为和审讯结果的影响的理解，并将为刑事司法和法律的社区提供工具，以改善对嫌疑人陈述的收集和评估，鼓励采用循证程序。

Intoxicated suspects in the U.S. are routinely interrogated by law enforcement despite the fact that very little is known about the effects of intoxication in legal contexts. Specifically, how intoxication impacts confession decisions, comprehension of Miranda rights, suggestibility, ability to lie, and behavior during questioning are all unknown. These issues are important, as law enforcement interrogation practices in the U.S. have drawn criticism for their coercive nature and these concerns have been validated by proven cases of false confessions. Of primary concern, alcohol myopia theory suggests that the intoxicated may be at particular risk for making impulsive decisions - focusing on immediate consequences at the expense of consequences in the future. The proposed research is the first to address this major research void, examining a) the confession decisions of intoxicated suspects, and b) how intoxicated suspects are perceived by others. Study 1 will investigate the impact of intoxication using an experimental lab paradigm involving the interrogation of guilty and innocent students accused of cheating and will further assess how intoxication impacts suggestibility and Miranda rights comprehension. Study 2 will use Study 1's interrogation videos to examine students' and law enforcements' veracity judgments about true and false confessors and true and false deniers, and the behaviors exhibited in those statements. The current studies will contribute to a growing understanding of intoxication's impact on suspect behavior and interrogation outcomes and will provide the criminal justice and legal communities with tools to improve the gathering and evaluation of suspect statements, creating incentives to adopt evidence-based procedures.