AUSTIN — Statements that crime witnesses make while under hypnosis will soon be inadmissible in Texas courts.
On Sept. 1, a new law will go into effect banning information gleaned during a hypnosis session from being used against a criminal defendant. The controversial practice of investigative hypnosis, which was the subject of a 2020 Dallas Morning News investigation, involves a law enforcement officer placing a victim or witness under a trance in the hopes of eliciting new or clearer memories of a crime.
Memory experts argue there is no proof that investigative hypnosis results in better recall, saying it can actually elicit false memories from crime victims and witnesses. About half the states bar or heavily restrict “hypnotically-induced testimony” in criminal trials due to the potential for wrongful convictions.
