Interrogation interview

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Interview type and interviewee selected: (E.g., Cognitive Interview with a cooperative crime

witness; Good practice interview with an alleged child sexual abuse victim; Custodial suspect

interrogation, etc.) Specify here. Cognitive Interview with a cooperative witness. Nicole

Stevenson, 27 years old, witnessed a hit and run.

Interviewer = R

Interviewee = E

1R: Good afternoon, Nicole. I’m Detective Kaci and I will be interviewing you today. How are

you?

1E: Alright, I suppose.

2R: I hope this meeting isn’t inconvenient for you. Is there anything I can get you before we start

to make you more comfortable? Coffee or water? You can help yourself to some candy – I

always keep it out.

2E: Oh, thank you. I will take a glass of water and a Reese’s.

3R: Wonderful. Now, you’re here today to provide some information about a hit and run you

witnessed ... is that correct?

3E: Yes.

4R: Alright, well let me first explain the process to you. I’m going to ask you to tell me

everything that you remember from the beginning to the end. Then, if necessary, I will ask you

more specific questions and then we’ll try some different techniques to help you remember any

extra details. Please state everything as accurately and as truthfully as you can. Don’t be afraid to

admit you can’t remember something. “I don’t remember” or “I don’t know” are perfectly

acceptable to tell me. At the same time, don’t leave anything you do remember out – we need

every bit of information, regardless of how insignificant it might seem. Also, do not feel

intimidated – you are the one with the information and you are helping us. We depend on you,

not the other way around. Do you have any questions before we begin?

4E: No, I don’t think so…

5R: Okay, great. So, I am just going to ask you to recall everything you can. Tell me what

happened as if you were telling a story.

5E: Well, okay. I was driving back from a night out with friends and it was about 2AM in the

morning. The roads were relatively empty. I, uh … passed under a bridge and saw someone

there; I’m not sure what they were doing. But they were hard to see, I barely noticed him.

Anyway, after I passed the bridge I stopped at a nearby gas station to fill up my car. As soon as I

had gotten my car all set up with the pump, I heard a sort of thumping crash? And then a screech.

I saw headlights coming from the bridge and a car slowly pulled out, then it sped off. I was only

able to catch a glimpse of the license plate. So, I walked out into the road a little to see what had

happened under the bridge and was able to make out a lump on the ground. I walked a little

closer to get a better look, and that’s when I called 911.

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6R: Okay, great. I have just a few additional questions. If you don’t know the answer, that’s

perfectly okay. Do you remember if there was a car behind you as you were driving?

6E: No. I don’t remember seeing it.

7R: Do you know what the man under the bridge was doing?

7E: I honestly couldn’t say … I barely saw him. I remember thinking to myself, he should be

more careful because he could easily get run over if he wanders out onto the street.

8R: Can you describe the gas station you stopped in?

8E: Mercury, I think. It was right by the bridge, on the right.

9R: You said you heard a noise. Could you describe it?

9E: Yes, well, there was a loud, dull thud and a scraping noise. It wasn’t really a crash, but it

obviously came from a car. And the thump I imagine was from the collision.

10R: Great. Tell me about the car – what type of car it was, what color, and as much of the

license plate as you can remember, if at all. Try to get a clear picture in your mind.

(pause) 10E: I’m not good with cars. It was a big car, looked like a Jeep in shape but a little bit

bigger. It was a dark green color – it was kind of shimmery. As for the license plate, honestly, I

feel like my memory might be useless on that. I just remember an X and a 4 somewhere in there

… but I can’t say if it was in the first part or second or even if it was on the same side.

11R: That was great. Everything you’ve said so far has been a great help. We’re just quickly

going to try another approach. Are you okay with that?

11E: Yes, that’s fine.

12R: I’d like you to try to remember everything in reverse order, from the end to the beginning.

Try to visualize it. Sometimes the reversal of order can stimulate the memory and can help recall.

However, don’t try to think of anything new – just report what comes to you.

12E: Okay. So, I called 911 after approaching the lump and identified it as a body. There was no

one else around. I saw the car speeding off. It came out of the bridge slowly. I saw the license

plate as it came out – (pause) MXR. There was a 4 in there somewhere. I heard the screech and

thump. I heard a car approaching – it was pretty loud and sounded kind of fast. I was getting gas,

but I had to do the self-service stuff since the store itself was closed. I pulled into the gas station.

I went under a bridge and saw a person there – I know it was a male and he was wearing a

hoodie.

13R: That was good! We got a little bit of additional information. So, basically, when you were

pumping gas you heard a scraping thud noise which you interpreted as a collision – and as you

later saw, someone had been hit. The car was a dark green, Jeep-looking vehicle with license

plate MXR – first three letters and the number 4 in the second part. The car sped off seconds

after impact. Is there anything else that I’m missing?

13E: Oh, yes. Just a small thing I forgot to mention. The car swerved a bit as it drove off. I think

it was just to counteract its original position after the collision, but I don’t know. Accidents are

really messy.

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14R: Good, I’ll just add that to my notes. Well, you’ve been a wonderful help today. Is there

anything else I can get you before we end the interview?

14E: No, thank you.

15R: Thank you for coming in today. I know it can be very stressful, but you really did help us a

lot. I’m going to give you my card in case you have any more information or questions you’d

like to ask. Feel free to contact me anytime. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

15E: Thank you. Have a good day.