A family's nightmare, Part 2: Police interrogate brother about rape allegations

[Bozita]

A family's nightmare, Part 2: Police interrogate brother about rape allegations
1:37 AM, Jun. 13, 2011
BY L.L. BRASIER AND JOHN WISELY
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

Second in a six-part series
Chaper 1: The allegations - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x607400
Related content: PDF: Police report in the Wendrow case (1.8MB) | PDF: Care House interview evaluation in the Wendrow case


In an interview room at CARE House of Oakland County, Amy Allen asked the girl whether she could log on to the computer.

The 14-year-old girl hit the "Y" key for "yes." But then, she just sat there with the specialized laptop that was designed to help her communicate.

Allen, a CARE House interviewer and former employee of the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, was responsible for interviewing the girl that day about rape allegations she made using facilitated communication. Allen had no experience with autism and had never heard of FC when she met the girl that day.

She persisted.

"Would you like to log on?"

The girl hit the "Y" key again. Then nothing.

"Are you able to log on?" Allen asked.

Again the "Y" key, but nothing else.

There were more questions. And always, the "Y" key in response. Eventually, the girl's grandmother, who had taken her to the interview, intervened and logged on for her.

more...
http://www.freep.com/article/20110613/NEWS03/106130401/A-family-s-nightmare-Part-2-Police-interrogate-brother-about-rape-allegations?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[pnwmom]

1. What a nightmare for that family. Maybe FC has some value in some context,

but I don't see how it could ever be used as testimony in a criminal case.

[Warpy]

2. Did nobody think to say "Sign on now?"

Or did they not think to ask questions like "Is the sky yellow today?" to see if that would get an "n" response?

Facilitator bias is always a problem with this stuff. That's why it's completely unproven. This case would have to be decided by forensic evidence.

[LAGC]

3. Wow, those interrogation videos really show how sleazy police detectives are.

Lying, pressuring, just making shit up.

Guess it takes a scumbag to sometimes catch the guilty criminal scumbags, if they are lucky to find the right guy.