Alleged Offenders Research Articles

Legally Protected Interests of the Abducted Alleged Offender

Professor S. Z. Feller, to whom this article respectfully is dedicated, wrote a critical attack on the problem of concurrent criminal jurisdiction. The adverse consequence of more than one state claiming jurisdiction over a given criminal behaviour may be the abduction of the alleged offender by officials of one of these states. This issue was recently raised in the United States Supreme Court in theAlvarez-Machaincase. Chief Justice Rehnquist's holding allowing a U.S. court to try Dr. Alvarez-Machain, who was abducted by U.S. authorities, caused vehement national and international criticism. Subsequently, the United States District Court of Los Angeles acquitted Dr. Alvarez-Machain on 14 December 1992.The long list of abduction cases of recent history, together with the absence of a satisfying solution are alarming. I shall not attempt to cut this “Gordan's knot”, but rather shall focus on an issue that has as yet not been clearly addressed in the current debate.

The evaluation of truthfulness in alleged sex offenders' self-reports: 16PF and MMPI validity scales.

The evaluation of response bias (i.e., minimization or exaggeration) is central to forensic psychological evaluations. Yet few studies have assessed forensic samples to investigate the ability of psychological tests to detect response bias. We studied the relationship between the Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) validity scales for 65 alleged sex offenders and assessed the effects of different cutoff scores for the 16PF validity scales. Results indicate consistent significant correlations between the validity scales of the 16PF and the MMPI for measures of minimization and exaggeration. use of a priori cutoff scores resulted in the classification of our sample in proportions parallel to those found in previous research for the 16PF Fake-Good scale but not the Fake-Bad scale. Our results indicate that 16PF validity scales are useful, but interpretations must take into account different base rates of response bias between sex offenders and the general population.

Psychopathology and Denial in Alleged Sex Offenders

To investigate whether patients accused of having committed acts of sex offense manifest symptoms of psychopathology and whether they minimize or deny such symptoms during clinical evaluations, we administered the MMPI to 53 alleged sex offenders. We compared patients along two dimensions: a) whether they admitted or denied deviant sexual behavior, and b) whether they faced legal charges for sex offenses. Results indicated the following: a) Patients who denied deviant sexual behavior were significantly more likely to minimize psychopathology than were those who admitted to deviant sexual behavior (p less than .05). b) Patients facing no active legal charges showed significantly more psychopathology than did those facing legal charges (p less than .05). c) The most frequent forms of psychopathology shown by these patients were antisocial attitudes, depression, somatization, and cognitive disorganization. These findings suggest that many alleged sex offenders may experience, and deny, severe psychopathology in addition to their sexual disorders. Clinicians should be alert to subtle signs of psychopathology when evaluating alleged sex offenders who deny deviant sexual behavior, because these patients may be especially likely to minimize symptoms.

Patterns of sexual arousal of accused child molesters involved in custody disputes

Penile plethysmography was used to examine sexual preferences of individuals accused of child molestation in the course of custody conflicts. Information regarding the alleged offenders, victims, and sex offense was gathered. In comparison to accused offenders who are not engaged in custody disputes, the subjects were more often accused of sexually abusing a younger child who was a biological relative. The source of accusations was usually the mother. Additionally, the custody-dispute subjects were less likely to have a prior criminal history. Penile tumescence data suggested that the subjects involved in custody disputes were less sexually aroused by children than those subjects who were not involved in custody conflicts. However, the results revealed that in both groups a substantial number of subjects responded equally or more to the child stimuli. In sum, the alleged offenders involved in custody disputes appeared less deviant on several measures.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Factors That Influence the Legal Disposition of Child Sexual Abuse Cases

The prosecution files of 350 child sexual abuse cases in Ector County (Odessa), Texas, were examined to determine the influence the child's age, relationship to the alleged offender, interval between initial occurrence and reporting of abuse, presence or absence of medical evidence, and presence or absence of a statement by the accused had on the subsequent prosecution and conviction of offenders. The victim's age and relationship to the suspect had no impact on the legal outcome. There was a greater likelihood of prosecution and conviction in cases in which medical evidence and/or a statement by the offender were available and a shorter interval existed between occurrence and reporting.

Concerted Action Against States Found in Default of their International Obligations in respect of Unlawful Interference with International Civil Aviation

Incidents of unlawful interference with international civil aviation over the past few years have posed novel and difficult problems for international lawyers. For example, a person may unlawfully seize an aircraft and thereafter escape to a state that refuses either to extradite him or prosecute him. Or a group of guerillas may, after an aircraft has been unlawfully seized, detain the aircraft, passengers and crew and even destroy the aircraft in circumstances where the state in which the detention and destruction have occurred may decide to take no action. The inability of an aggrieved state, such as the state of registry of the aircraft or states of which the crew and passengers are nationals, to secure the extradition or prosecution of the alleged offenders could greatly nullify the effect of the Tokyo, Hague and Montreal Conventions which contain provisions aimed at ensuring disposal of an alleged offender who has committed a hijacking or other act of unlawful interference with international civil aviation and its facilities. In view of these and related problems, there was an attempt in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), from mid-1970 to mid-1971, to develop an internationally agreed procedure for securing the enforcement of international obligations of states in respect of unlawful interference with international civil aviation. This attempt failed. As the failure to find a solution in no way lessened the importance of the problems, a concise presentation of the history of the negotiations which took place in ICAO fora in 1970-1971 may be useful for those who may consider taking up this subject in the future.

A Comparative Analysis of Pretrial Release Procedures

This study of ROR (release on own recognizance) pretrial release practices confirms that alleged offenders are indeed returning to court for trial and also indicates that a specially administered program is substantially more effective than the police in actually releasing those arrested. Research to determine the effectiveness, in releasing those qualified, of an independent bail agency of the court in New Haven, Conn., shows a substan tial increase in ROR releases and, in some instances, a significant increase in the total number of persons released before arraign ment. In addition, the number of cash bonds and bonds by bondsmen decreases.