Top court says evidence from hypnosis not reliable - Canada - CBC News - 0 views
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The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday that evidence obtained through hypnosis should not be used in criminal cases because testimony based on such evidence is not "sufficiently reliable" in a court of law.
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the technique of hypnosis and its impact on human memory are not understood well enough for post-hypnosis testimony to be sufficiently reliable in a court of law
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Initially, the neighbour told police she saw Trochym on the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 15, 1992,but after she underwent hypnosis at the request of police, she remembered she sawthe accusedleave on Wednesday afternoon.
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In its ruling, the court said the dangers posed by problems with the evidence could deprive an accused of a fair trial.
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But dissenting judges, in their reasons, expressed concern about the majority ruling in which hypnosis is described as a "novel science" and "hypnotically refreshed memories" are now consideredinadmissible as evidence. "This ignores the fact that the technique has been used in Canada for almost 30 years, and has been employed in Canadian criminal investigations to assist in memory retrieval of both Crown and defence witnesses for a similar amount of time," they wrote. "Hypnosis is not new science, nor is its use in forensic investigation new."