Evidence: Is a Hypnotized Witness Reliable?

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While not necessarily implying that the jury verdict was wrong, the federal appeals court that covers Connecticut has just ordered a new trial for Miller. In his opinion, Judge Henry Friendly declared that some of Caron's testimony required the Government to disclose that it had hypnotized him. The Government must make this admission, Friendly indicated, whenever there is a "significant possibility" that it will affect the verdict. The ruling, one of the first of its kind, should help prevent abuse of hypnosis by overzealous prosecutors. "If the price of our decision should be the ultimate escape of a guilty man rather than the vindication of an innocent one," said the judge, "this is the kind of case where that price is worth paying."

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