ESDA and the analysis of contested contemporaneous notes of police interviews

Authors

  • Tom Davis University of Birmingham

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v1i1.71

Keywords:

Electro-Static Detection Apparatus, police interview, PACE, contemporaneous notes

Abstract

In this paper I propose to tell part of the story of ESDA and the analysis of police interview notes. I will describe the ESDA machine and its functioning; I will describe the notes themselves and the rules governing their taking, known as PACE: the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984. I will describe the techniques that have been developed to use ESDA for this purpose, and the problems and pitfalls associated with these techniques. Finally, I will give a detailed account of one case.

Author Biography

  • Tom Davis, University of Birmingham
    Tom Davis is a lecturer in bibliography and palaeography at the University of Birmingham. Since 1974 he has operated a consultancy service in the forensic analysis of questioned handwriting. He has conducted much research into that subject, including four projects funded by the Home Office. Recently his analysis of ESDA evidence has been used in many cases involving the West Midlands Serious Crimes Squad and other police forces, leading to a number of successful appeals.

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Published

1994-06-01

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (1994)

Section

Articles

License

© Equinox Publishing Ltd.

For information regarding our Open Access policy, click here.

How to Cite

Davis, T. (1994). ESDA and the analysis of contested contemporaneous notes of police interviews. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 1(1), 71-89. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v1i1.71