Hypnosis or hocus-pocus?

• Author: Mitchell, Teresa
• Position: Bench Press

The Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that evidence obtained by hypnosis is, in most cases, too unreliable to use. The case involved a man convicted of second-degree murder. Critical to his conviction was evidence obtained from a witness by hypnosis. The Court decided in a six to three decision that hypnosis evidence and its impact on human memory are not well enough understood for such testimony to be reliable in a court of law. It noted that studies of hypnosis are either inconclusive or draw attention to the fact that hypnosis can, in some circumstances, result in the distortion...