Capili (Felix N.) Notes on Lie Detection and Criminal Interrogation, 1954

Collection context

Summary

Title:
Felix N. Capili notes on lie detection and criminal interrogation
Dates:
1954
Creators:
Capili, Felix N. and B & L Rootenberg Fine & Rare Books
Extent:
1 unknown (1 manuscript)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Felix N. Capili notes on lie detection and criminal interrogation (Collection 701). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections for the Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

Detective Felix N. Capili (1926-2010) of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department first details the history and development of the polygraph, and sets forth instructions for its use. "Significant are the number of cases described and how suspects reacted to testing. The illustrations demonstrate physiological factors and responses detected in test readings, and references polygraph results from actual criminal cases. The second section lays out the various psychological principles of questioning, especially with different types of offenders, discusses profiling, and describes specific tactics to use in various circumstances, such as appealing to the suspect's pride, the futility of resistance, condemning the victim, use of exaggeration, and of course the 'good cop/bad cop' method. There are sections on the ethics of interrogation, as well as a discussion of incriminating statements, a suspect's constitutional rights, and confessions in court. Capili references many Supreme Court cases and the effects of those decisions on interrogation procedures. The polygraph had been invented as an interrogation tool in the late nineteenth century, and became more widely used following the techniques described by Fred Inbau and John E. Reid in the landmark Lie detection and criminal interrogation (1942, revised in 1948 and 1953). In this treatise, Det. Capili ... has created a document for training others in crime solving through detection of truth and deception as well as the best method of extracting confessions from evildoers. He here references many specific supreme court cases and the effects of those decisions on interrogation procedures."

The manuscript is typewritten on thin paper. There are handwritten annotations and underlining throughout. Several photographs of polygraph records are pasted-in and labeled, along with an annotated plate, from a published source, annotated by hand.

Source: Antiquarian bookseller's description, 2016.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from B L Rootenberg Fine Rare Books, 2016.
Physical location:
Held at UCLA Library Special Collections. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Names:
B & L Rootenberg Fine & Rare Books

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Krystell Jimenez, 2019.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2020-11-18 17:01:41 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Felix N. Capili notes on lie detection and criminal interrogation (Collection 701). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections for the Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
12-077 Center for Health Sciences, Box 951798
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798, US
Contact:
(310) 825-6940