Competence to waive interrogation rights and adjudicative competence in adolescent defendants: cognitive development, attorney contact, and psychological symptoms

A Preliminary Exploration of the Multimedia Principle's Applicability for Improving Comprehension of Youth Interrogation Rights

We examined the extent to which presenting youth interrogation rights using different combinations of three multimedia elements (Animation, Audio, and Caption) improved comprehension. A 2 (Animation: Present, Absent) × 2 (Audio: Present, Absent) × 2 (Caption: Present, Absent) between-participants design was employed using samples of adults (Experiment 1: N = 207) and youth (Experiment 2: N = 193). Participants in both experiments were shown one of eight multimedia presentations and asked about their understanding of the presented youth interrogation rights. In both experiments, the multimedia presentation that contained animation and caption led to the highest level of comprehension. Implications of these findings for protecting youth and the use of technology during interrogations are discussed.

Assessing fitness for trial in a Children's Court

In 2016, Queensland introduced changes to mental health legislation, providing additional powers to Magistrates in relation to soundness of mind and fitness for trial. This article explores the application of fitness for trial to young people in the Magistrate's Court. It begins with a discussion of fitness for trial broadly, exploring issues with the current legal test, and discusses the unique application of the test in Queensland. By highlighting the inherent vulnerabilities of young people involved in the legal system, we identify the gaps and challenges of assessing fitness for trial with this population. In conclusion we recommend further exploration of alternative models for resolving questions of fitness for trial for young people involved in the criminal justice system.

Profiles of juveniles with sex offense charges referred for competence evaluations

Juveniles referred for adjudicative competence evaluations make up a subset of youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Among those referred for adjudicative competence evaluations, a significant number involve youth with current or past charges for sexual offenses. This study examines the profiles of youth with sexual offense charges who have been referred for competence evaluations at a state psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents. Differences between the characteristics of youth with and without sexual offenses were explored, and predictors of competence opinions were examined among the subset of youth with current or prior sexual charges (juveniles with sexual offenses, or JSOs). Findings indicated that youth with sexual offenses have several demographic, cognitive, clinical, and legal differences from youth without sexual offenses. Although youth with sexual offenses were less likely to be opined competent, presence of a sexual offense was not a predictor of competence opinions after controlling for other factors. Predictors of competence among JSOs were found to be similar to those among youth referred for competence evaluations in general. Primary diagnosis of an autism-related disorder was a unique predictor of being opined not competent among the JSO subgroup, but not the overall sample. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

Applying the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Resolution to Juvenile Probation Reform

In 2017, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) passed a resolution advocating for empirically supported juvenile probation reform nationwide. Here, we review the adolescent development and behavioral decision-making research underlying the principles enumerated in the NCJFCJ resolution and describe several of its critical elements. Then, to provide guidance to jurisdictions seeking to revise local policy and practice, we suggest a series of steps that would help juvenile justice professionals translate NCJFCJ resolution principles into innovative probation reform. Finally, we describe how two jurisdictions-Pierce County, Washington and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania-have engaged in ongoing juvenile probation reform efforts to provide real-world models of how this translational work can be carried out successfully.

You have the right to remain silent: The ability of adolescents with developmental language disorder to understand their legal rights

PURPOSE

This study compared Miranda Rights comprehension of adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their typically developing (TD) peers.

METHOD

Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights (Grisso, 1998) was administered to 20 adolescents with DLD and 20 age-matched TD peers.

RESULTS

The DLD group exhibited significantly greater difficulty in understanding and appreciating Miranda Rights than their TD peers. Adolescents with DLD were 7 times more likely to be at risk of failing to sufficiently understand the Miranda warnings than adolescents in the TD group.

DISCUSSION

Adolescents with DLD are particularly vulnerable to failing to understand Miranda Rights and the consequences of waiving them. Future work should determine if there is a link between difficulty comprehending legal rights and the high prevalence of adolescents with language disorder in juvenile detention facilities.

Juvenile Fitness for Trial: Lawyer and Youth Justice Officer Professional Survey

Fitness to stand trial is a necessary requisite for a fair trial in judicial proceedings. Research within Australia is limited regarding juvenile fitness for trial, though recent evidence indicates that juvenile offenders are half as likely to be found unfit to stand trial compared to adult offenders. The study surveys lawyers (n = 20) and youth justice workers (n = 20) about their experiences with juveniles in the Queensland youth justice system. Over the preceding 12 months, 133 juveniles were identified as potentially unfit. Intellectual impairment (37%), immaturity (28%), and mental illness (26%) were the most prevalent conditions. Indigenous Australians were rarely referred for mental health evaluation. In comparison, juveniles (mostly non-indigenous) with mental illness and intellectual impairment were significantly more likely to be referred for evaluation. Pragmatic and tactical reasons were most frequently given for non-referral to the Queensland Mental Health Court, which at the time decided fitness.

Success in School for Justice-Involved Girls: Do Specific Aspects of Developmental Immaturity Matter?

Developmental immaturity (DI) may help explain some of the variability in aspects of academic achievement among girls in the juvenile justice system, a population with high rates of truancy, dropout, and school failure. This study examined the relationships among the decision making and independent functioning components of DI, verbal intelligence, and academic achievement within this population. Using data from 60 girls in residential juvenile justice facilities, multiple regression analyses indicated that verbal IQ moderated the relationship between the DI construct of decision making and academic achievement. Self-reported school attendance and number of previous arrests did not significantly mediate the relationship between DI and academic achievement. These results may indicate that the decision-making factor of DI may be particularly important, and, if results are replicated, future intervention efforts could focus more on improving this skill within this juvenile justice population. Additionally, the overall importance of the full DI construct is an important area of future study.

Juvenile Competency to Stand Trial

Competency to stand trial is interpreted as a protected due process right for all defendants and is defined as a defendant's fundamental knowledge and understanding of the criminal charges being filed, roles and procedures within the courtroom, and a general ability to work with the defense counsel. Questions of competency are most often raised by the judge, defense, or the prosecution, and competency evaluations are most often completed by psychiatrists or psychologists with forensic training or work experience. Mental illness, intellectual disability, developmental disorders, and developmental immaturity are the 4 main factors considered in most juvenile competency evaluations.

Miranda in Actual Juvenile Interrogations

Though laboratory and self-report research proliferates on youths’ Miranda comprehension and reasoning, little is known about how Miranda actually takes place inside the juvenile interrogation room. This study is among the first to present data on the Miranda processes and outcomes that occur in actual juvenile interrogations. Fifty-seven electronically recorded police interrogations with juvenile suspects were coded using software designed especially for observational research; this article examines a subset of those interrogations ( N = 28) that contained a filmed Miranda component. Key variables include the manner of Miranda delivery, youths’ behavioral indicators of comprehension, and Miranda waiver rates. Additionally, the language used to present Miranda warnings to juvenile suspects was transcribed and analyzed. Results indicate that Miranda delivery typically occurred in a neutral manner, immediately upon interview commencement or after a brief period of booking questions. Miranda warnings were presented in various formats (verbal, written, and combination), and youth-specific modifications to the standard Miranda language were uncommon. The Miranda waiver rate in our subsample was 90%. The specific Miranda language used in these interrogations read approximately at a seventh-grade reading level. Implications of Miranda delivery, waiver, and readability are discussed.

Mired in Miranda misconceptions: a study of legally involved juveniles at different levels of psychosocial maturity

The Supreme Court of the United States has long recognized that the vulnerabilities of juvenile offenders merit special protections due to deficits in experience and maturity. Appellate courts assume that Miranda warnings will inform juvenile suspects of their Miranda rights, and allow them to render knowing and intelligent waivers. This study examines Miranda misconceptions of legally involved juveniles (i.e., juvenile detainees and youth mandated to juvenile justice alternative education) at different levels of psychosocial maturity. These juveniles manifested an unexpectedly large frequency of erroneous Miranda beliefs; each group (low, middle, and high maturity) averaged a dozen or more misconceptions, thus overshadowing substantive differences between maturity groups. However, maturity played an important role in the immediate recall of a Miranda advisement. Alarmingly, both low- and middle-maturity groups displayed less than one-third immediate recall. The high-maturity group performed better, but still failed to recall almost half of the Miranda concepts. The overall findings are discussed with respect to juvenile Miranda comprehension and reasoning.

Examining the role of interrogative suggestibility in Miranda rights comprehension in adolescents

This study aimed to further clarify the association between interrogative suggestibility and Miranda rights comprehension in adolescents; in particular, we examined whether intellectual ability (IQ) serves as a mediator of this relationship. Participants completed Grisso's Miranda Instruments, the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, and the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale. Many youth demonstrated poor comprehension of their rights, particularly younger and less intellectually capable adolescents. Both yield and shift components of interrogative suggestibility were inversely related to rights comprehension; however, IQ fully mediated these relationships. Neither demographic variables (gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status after controlling for IQ, and English as a second language (ESL) status) nor previous police experience were significantly associated with rights comprehension in the present sample. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Defense attorneys' concerns about the competence of adolescent defendants

Research indicates that a sizable proportion of adolescent defendants have difficulty understanding and participating in legal proceedings against them, and may be incompetent to stand trial. To examine attorneys' experience in defending adolescents with competence-related difficulties, 214 juvenile attorneys were surveyed. Findings indicated that attorneys have doubts about the competence of approximately 10% of adolescent defendants, and that they find these cases particularly challenging to defend. Most attorneys appear to recognize that developmental factors may contribute to adolescents' competence-related difficulties, and believe that the law should accept developmental immaturity as a basis for incompetence findings. In approximately half of the cases in which attorneys had doubts about competence, attorneys did not request a competence evaluation but instead made other efforts to address competence issues, such as by teaching adolescents about legal proceedings and further involving their parents. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Police-induced confessions: risk factors and recommendations

Recent DNA exonerations have shed light on the problem that people sometimes confess to crimes they did not commit. Drawing on police practices, laws concerning the admissibility of confession evidence, core principles of psychology, and forensic studies involving multiple methodologies, this White Paper summarizes what is known about police-induced confessions. In this review, we identify suspect characteristics (e.g., adolescence; intellectual disability; mental illness; and certain personality traits), interrogation tactics (e.g., excessive interrogation time; presentations of false evidence; and minimization), and the phenomenology of innocence (e.g., the tendency to waive Miranda rights) that influence confessions as well as their effects on judges and juries. This article concludes with a strong recommendation for the mandatory electronic recording of interrogations and considers other possibilities for the reform of interrogation practices and the protection of vulnerable suspect populations.

The use of the MacCAT-CA with adolescents: an item response theory investigation of age-related measurement bias

Despite the application of the MacCAT-CA to juveniles, questions been raised regarding the appropriateness of this tool for adolescents. The current study tested for age-related measurement bias using data from the MacArthur Juvenile Adjudicative Competence Study (n = 1393). Five of the MacCAT-CA items showed age-related measurement bias (i.e., DIF) for adolescents aged 11-15, and three items showed DIF for adolescents aged 16-17. Several items (e.g., understanding of juries) were more difficult for adolescents than adults matched at the same latent level of capacity, suggesting that these items might underestimate adolescents' legal capacities. Contrary to expectations, there was little evidence of age-related measurement bias on the Appreciation scale. The use of the MacCAT-CA in research and clinical settings is discussed.

Reid training and sensitivity to developmental maturity in interrogation: results from a national survey of police

Although research has demonstrated that youthfulness is a risk factor for providing false confessions during criminal interrogations, it is unclear whether interrogation training programs address this issue. The goal was to analyze differences between Reid-trained (RT) and non-Reid-trained (non-RT) police in their sensitivity to the developmental maturity of young suspects. 1,828 police officers, 514 of whom were RT, completed surveys about their perceptions and practices during interrogation with children, adolescents, or adults. Results indicate that, compared with non-RT police, RT police demonstrate less sensitivity to the developmental maturity of adolescents in terms of (1) perceptions of their competencies during interrogation and (2) use of psychologically coercive questioning techniques. These findings have implications for the development of juvenile interrogation training programs.

Adjudicative competence and comprehension of Miranda rights in adolescent defendants: a comparison of legal standards

Currently, there is considerable variability and ambiguity in legal standards pertaining to juveniles' comprehension of Miranda rights and their adjudicative competence. This study investigated rates of impairment under various proposed legal standards. One hundred and fifty-two young defendants aged 11-17 were assessed with Grisso's Miranda Instruments and the Fitness Interview Test-Revised. While over half of defendants aged 15 and under were classified as impaired in adjudicative capacities when adult norms were applied, significantly fewer adolescents were classified as impaired when adolescent norms were applied or a standard of "basic understanding and communication." Also, while over half of defendants aged 15 and under were classified as impaired in their comprehension of Miranda rights when both understanding and appreciation of Miranda rights were required, significantly fewer youth were classified as being impaired when only understanding was required. The implications of these findings are discussed.