Police Interrogation in Spain some preliminary results Police

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Police Interrogation in Spain: 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway some preliminary results André F. R. M. Braz Forensic. Lab andre. braz@upf. edu Carlos Delgado Laboratorio de Acústica Forense de la Policia Científica de Madrid carlos. delgado@dgp. mir. es M. Teresa Turell Forensic. Lab teresa. turell@upf. edu http: //www. iula. upf. edu/forensiclab INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 1

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Present practices and protocols in Police Interrogation in Spain INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 2

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Current legislation • Criminal Law Procedure (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal-LECrim. ): Proceedings of Inquiry or Investigation: • What? Complex and formal proceedings • Where? Police station • Who? 3 Participants: 1) Instructor: directs the interrogation 2) Secretary: take notes and writes the proceedings 3) Suspect: answers the questions INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 3

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results How are the Proceedings organized? 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway 1. Generalities of the Law (general questions). 2. Reading of suspect’s rights. 3. Police Interrogation(Non recorded electronically). 4. Suspect’s declaration (comment on the facts). 5. Writing of Acta de Declaración. (Suspect’s statement under caution) Reference: Pérez et al (2004). INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 4

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Acta de Declaración(1) • Written by the Secretary. 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway • Describes chronological order of the proceedings. • Juridical-administrative Language: • conservative lexicon and use of formulaic expressions; • Indirect speech. • Fixed format of Questions-Answers: • ”PREGUNTADO para que diga si no es cierto que…, DICE…” (“ASKED to say if it is [not] true that. . . , [the suspect] SAID: …”) • All participants sign in conformity at the end. • Inserted in a case file to the consideration of judges/lawyers. Reference: Anneré & Pastor (2000). Acercamiento al español jurídico a través del atestado. Actas del primer CIEFE, November: Amsterdam INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 5

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Acta de Declaración(2) • Previous literature: 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway • Figueras (2001): Two linguistic mechanisms of modality: (1)Epistemic- influence the inferential processes of the police when writing the Acta de Declaración; (2)Deontic - influence the judge’s inferential processes of interpretation. • Taranilla (2006, 2007): Existence of Double enunciation*: (1)Production of Acta de Declaración; (2)Spoken interaction between Instructor and Suspect; • Linguistic polyphonic character (multiplicity of voices in discourse) * Ducrout’s Enunciation theory says “that the utterances of a discourse inevitably contain traces of the act that produced them (enunciation), the context in which they were produced and the subjectivity of the producer. ” (Marnette, 2001: 244) INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 6

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway The current reality • Spain is a Civil Law tradition where the Police Interrogation process is considered a reliable investigative instrument which does not find the need to be recorded electronically, as opposite to what occurs in with some countries with Common Law tradition like England, USA, Australia. • Spanish police forces are not very open. • Most studies consider a legal approach at the proceedings. • Police manuals are superficially descriptive. IN CONCLUSION: it is a real difficulty to obtaining relevant and substantial data. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 7

3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results The present study INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 8

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway The present study: aims • First attempt to “look” inside the interrogation room. • Describe the practice and protocols in Police Interrogation currently in use in Spain. • Particularly, identify, describe and compare the most prominent linguistic features of: 1) Acta de Declaración; 2) Recorded Police Interrogation. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 9

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Methodology: corpus 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway • Corpus (1): 1 Acta de Declaración. • Corpus (2): 1 audio recorded Police Interrogation(PI) • However, corpus (1) and corpus (2) are not from the same case. • Both corpus refer to cases investigated in 2010 by the Brigada de Delincuencia Económica y Fiscal (Economic and Tax Crime Brigade) of the Comisaría General de la Policía Judicial. • The corpus have been anonymised for confidentiality reasons. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 10

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Methodology: the analytical approach 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway • Macro perspective: a) Structure; b) Main discursive features. • Micro perspective: c) Type and sequencing of Questions and Answers; d) tactic features; e) Mechanisms used for the distribution of the participant’s role. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 11

3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Results INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 12

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Acta de Declaración: a) structure (van Dijk, 1982) 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway “Superstructure” INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 13

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Acta de Declaración: b)Main discursive features - Formal language 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway • “el Sr. Instructor dispone se proceda a oír en declaración y en relación a los hechos que motivan las presentes” - Indirect speech: • verbum dicendi: “DECLARA” (declare), “MANIFIESTA” (manifest), “PRESTAR”(give or swear), “CERTIFICA” (certify) perform illocutionary speech acts (Searl, 1969) • subordinating conjunction “que” (that) • past tense of the verbs: “dice” (said), “ha sido” (has been), “fue” (was) • grammatical person of pronouns: “le” (him), “su” (his) • Demonstrative elements: “estas dependencias” (these headquarters) instead of “aqui” (here) INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 14

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Acta de Declaración: c) Type of Questions Examples Questions (Quirk et al, 1985) Yes/No Wh- PREGUNTADO para que diga si… PREGUNTADO para que diga que/cuando/en que/cual(es)/cómo… Alternative PREGUNTADO para que diga si…o… INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 15

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Acta de Declaración: c) Type of Answers Short Answers (max 3 lines) Yes/No Direct Don’t know/ remember Simple Long Answers (at least 4 lines) Elaborated DICE: que no/si. DICE: que tarjetas de crédito, transferencias bancarias o domiciliaciones. DICE: que no sabe. DICE: Que el declarante recibe una nomina de unos 2. 800 Euros netas mensuales, por catorce pagas, de Consulting Management, que es donde esta asegurado. Que esporádicamente, cuando FUCSA tiene beneficios, el los percibe, y tributa por ello, que en el 2007, cree que ha recibido 30. 000 Euros. DICE: que desconoce las posiciones bancarias de xx, que escuchó decir a xx que tenía dinero en Suiza y que participó con una persona que se llama xx que es un broker suizo en una reunión en el Hotel HESPERIA, que la mayor parte de la conversación trascurrió en francés y no se enteró de la conversación que al parecer hablaron de las inversiones que xx realizaba para xx. Que xx le presentó a xx ese día. Que no ha vuelto a reunirse con esta persona y que no ha vuelto a tener una relación con esta persona. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 16

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Acta de Declaración: c) Comparison of Questions and Answers 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway 14 12 10 8 Yes/No (Q=27) Wh- (Q=29) 6 4 2 0 Short/direct Yes/No Don’t know/ remember INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA Simple Elaborated 17

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Acta de Declaración: d) Particular lexical, semantic, morphological and syntactic features 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway • Excessively long and complex sentences • Formulaic style: “Que una vez personado”, ”Que en presencia”, “a efecto de” • Frequent use of: • coordination “. . . y. . ” • subordination(para que diga, dice que) • Non personal-forms of the verbs: “siendo”, “teniendo”, “estando”, “poseyendo”, “leída” • Use of technical words: “Acta”, “Colegiado”, “epigrafiado”, “detenido”, “encartado”, “Letrado”, “articulo”, “capital social” • NO typical features of dialogue were found INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 18

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Acta de Declaración: e)Mechanisms used for the distribution of the participant’s role 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway • Asymmetric distribution: • Secretary: narrator • Instructor: represented by Secretary’s words • Suspect: -subordinated role- Pronoun “le” (him) and “su” (his), and omission of his/her own exact words -responsability for what is written: • declarative verbs-“declara” (declares), “manifiesta” (manifest), and “certifica” (certifies) • Symbolic signature INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 19

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Recorded PI: a) structure: 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway 1)Opening: • Informal introduction: - Inst. : ”Que hay? Buenas Que tal? Sientese por favor” • Generalities of the Law; • Reading of rights (very fast and not really clear): • Inst. : ”Bueno eh…Vamos a tomar una pequeña declaracion en relación a todo este tema ¿vale? Vamos a hacer primeramente unas preguntas así generales que se las hacemos a todo el mundo…”- use of informal language, closer to Suspect • Sect. : “eh, si hay alguna pregunta que no desee contestar está en su derecho. ” 2)Body of Interrogation: varies (dependent on interaction) 3)Closing: Inst: ”Alguna cosa más quiere hacernos constar? ” INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 20

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results PI: b) Main discursive features - Informal language - to establish rapport ; 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway - Direct speech; - markers: ”Entonces”, ”o sea”, ”bueno…”, ”oye”; - Acknowledgements of replies to questions: “ya ya”, “Vale!”, ”val”; - Repetitions: “no no”, “si si”, “supongo que si, supongo que si”; - Several interruptions, pauses and hesitations from all participants; - Incomplete utterances; - Different intonation. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 21

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway PI: c) Type of Questions • Yes/No questions • “Y ustedes construyeron en ese periodo? ” • “Usted tenia conocimiento de que, quién era el propietario de la casa desde el primer momento? ” • Wh- questions • “cuanto dinero ingresó usted. . ? ” • Tag-questions • “…¿me ha dicho? ” • “estos querian reformarla, no? ” • Alternative questions: • “mano de obra, materiales, ¿esto se lo decia? ” • “los pagos como se producían en efectivo, en cheque? ” • “recuerda si era por encima o por debajo? ” INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 22

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway PI: e)Mechanisms used for the distribution of the participant’s role(1) • Asymmetric distribution: - The Instructor: • Has the active role • Use of informal language through out the interrogation • Controls the interrogation: • Make questions • Allows the suspect’s narrative- “Aha. . ”, ”Mhm. . ”, “Mhm mhm”, “y. . . ”, “ya ya. . . ” • Interrupts the suspect’s narrative with a resume of what has been spoken • Talks with the Secretary and corrects what has been written down. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 23

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway PI: e)Mechanisms used for the distribution of the participant’s role(2) • Asymmetric distribution: - The Secretary: • Talks while writing; • Intervenes to ask for clarification and to help the Instructor; • Is sometimes corrected by the Instructor. - The suspect: • Very cooperative but speaks very fast; • Interrupts the Instructor constantly, either in agreement, correcting, exculpating himself; • Dominates the interaction but assumes a subordinating position before the authority. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 24

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Comparison of Acta de Declaración 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway and recorded PI Acta de Declaración Recorded PI Rigid and organized structure Typical 3 stages but unorganized structure Language: formal, technical, non personal Language: informal, commonly used, closer to the suspect Indirect and formulaic speech Direct speech Qs: Yes/No and WH- Qs: Yes/No, WH-, tag, alternative Asymmetric distribution of roles: 1) Secretary-active narrator 2) Suspect-subordinated but with responsibility 3) Instructor-only represented by Secretary’s voice Asymmetric distribution of roles: 1) Instructor-authority and active figure (asks the questions) 2)Suspect-main narrator but subordinated 3) Secretary-almost absent INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 25

3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Conclusion and Future perspectives INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 26

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Conclusion and Future Perspectives 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway • The Instructor questions the suspect while the Secretary writes notes and then the Acta de Declaración. • The Acta de Declaración summarizes the proceedings and represents the Suspect’s statement to the police. • The suspect’s role is diminished in the Acta de Declaración and in the interrogation. • The law requires the suspect’s words to be recorded, the language of the Acta de Declaración is very formal and formulaic. • So, to which extent does this document really represent the suspect’s own words? INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 27

Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results 3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Conclusion and Future Perspectives • There is sufficient linguistic evidence to suggest that the current proceedings can potentially have very incriminating repercussions in case suspects are accused of criminal activity in the future rather than just being used as informationgathering. • It is likely that suspects are not completely aware of these consequences. • Further research is required and it will : • Provide more information about the police’s interrogation methods, and their needs and difficulties. • More cooperativeness between scholars and the Spanish police forces. INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 28

3 rd i. IIRG Annual Conference 22 nd – 24 th June 2010 – Stavern Norway Police Interrogation in Spain: some preliminary results Thank you for your attention INSTITUT UNIVERSITARI DE LINGÜÍSTICA APLICADA UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA 29