| admission | A person's acknowledgment of certain facts or circumstances that tend to incriminate him or her with respect to a crime but are not complete enough to constitute a confession.
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| body language | Gestures, demeanor, facial expressions, and other nonverbal signals that convey, usually involuntarily, a person's attitudes, impressions, truthfulness, and so on.
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| confession | The acknowledgment by a person accused of a crime that he or she is guilty of that crime and committed every element of the offense; must exclude any reasonable doubt about the possibility of innocence.
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| delay-in-arraignment rule | Based on a 1943 Supreme Court decision, the principle that the failure to take a prisoner before a committing magistrate without unnecessary delay will render his or her confession inadmissible even if it was freely obtained.
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| eyewitness identification | The identification of someone or something involved in a crime by a witness who perceives the person or thing through one or more senses.
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| free-and-voluntary rule | Based on a number of Supreme Court decisions since 1936, the principle that the exertion of any kind of coercion, physical or psychological, on a suspect to obtain a confession will render the confession inadmissible.
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| in-custody interrogation | The legal condition under which the Miranda warnings are required, although case decisions vary on the definitions of "custody" and "interrogation."
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| polygraph | A mechanical device that records physiological changes that occur in a person while he or she is being questioned, with deviations from normal readings indicating deception; can be used only with subject's voluntary consent. Also called a lie detector.
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| proximity | The amount of space between the participants in a conversation—neither too close, which causes discomfort, nor too far apart, which causes a loss of connectivity.
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| rapport | In interviews and interrogations, the harmonious relationship with the witness or suspect that must be established by the investigator to foster trust and meaningful communication.
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| witness | A person who has firsthand knowledge regarding a crime or who has expert information regarding some aspect of the crime.
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