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The Griffiths Question Map: A Forensic Tool For Expert Witnesses’ Assessments of Witnesses and Victims’ Statements
Author(s) -
Dodier Olivier,
Denault Vincent
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.13477
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , psychology , adversarial system , forensic science , reliability (semiconductor) , forensic psychology , criminology , law , medicine , political science , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , veterinary medicine
Expert witnesses are sometimes asked to assess the reliability of young witnesses and victims’ statements because of their high susceptibility to memory biases. This technical note aims to highlight the relevance of the Griffiths Question Map ( GQM ) as a professional forensic tool to improve expert witnesses’ assessments of young witnesses and victims’ testimonies. To do so, this innovative question type assessment grid was used to proceed to an in‐depth analysis of the interview of an alleged 13‐year‐old victim of a sexual assault and two rapes. Overall, the GQM stressed how the interview was mainly conducted in an inappropriate manner. The results are examined with regard to scientific knowledge on young witnesses and victims’ memory. Finally, it is argued that expert witnesses in inquisitorial systems might use the GQM while encountering difficulties to fulfill the legal standards for expert evidence in adversarial systems because of the lack of studies regarding its reliability.