Countless movies and TV shows reinforce the stereotype of the tough cop or secret agent coercing information and confessions from evil-doers with little regard for legal niceties such as Miranda warnings. In reality, however, police detectives and intelligence agents receive extensive training on noncoercive techniques of interrogation.
But trial lawyers receive little or no exposure to this body of knowledge because the study of interrogation in the litigation context largely has developed apart from the study of interrogation in other settings. Litigators, however, would benefit greatly from examining noncoercive interrogation techniques routinely used by law enforcement and espionage personnel. While technology has greatly increased the availability of electronic data, an effective lawyer still must master the art of gathering evidence stored only in the human mind.
