Mr. Big (police procedure)

Mr. Big (sometimes known as the “Canadian technique”) is a covert investigation procedure used by undercover police to elicit confessions from suspects in cold cases (usually murder). Police officers create a fictitious criminal organization and then seduce the suspect into joining it. They build a “relationship” with the suspect, gain his confidence, and then enlist his help in a succession of criminal acts (e.g., credit card scams, selling guns). Once the suspect has become enmeshed in the criminal gang he is persuaded to divulge information about the specific crime under investigation.

The Mr. Big technique was developed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in British Columbia in the early 1990’s. According to the B.C. RCMP, this investigative technique has been used in more than 350 cases across Canada as of 2008 .[1] They claim that the person of interest was either cleared or charged in 75% of cases. Of the cases prosecuted, an estimated 95% result in a conviction .[2]

Description

While the details of the technique vary from case to case, the Mr. Big cases usually share a common design. Prior to engaging the suspect, he or she is placed under surveillance over a period of time (typically weeks) so the police can learn more about the target’s personality and his habits. This information helps undercover officers develop an interactive scenario. In most cases, the suspect is socially isolated, economically disadvantaged, unemployed and has few friends. An undercover operative will then attempt to develop a social bond by “bumping into” their target at a nightclub, or in public, claiming that they need help (e.g., flat tire, femme fatale in a broken-down car, etc.). A “friendship” between the operative and the suspect is then established. The operative will proceed to provide the target with entertainment, gifts, companionship, meals, and eventually employment. The suspect will be asked to complete small “criminal” tasks for large sums of money. These odd jobs can vary from counting large stacks of cash to retrieving packages from locked cars. The “illegal” activities gradually increase in seriousness and in frequency. The suspect is led to believe that he is an “up-and-comer” in the organization and that a permanent change in lifestyle is imminent. As many as 50 operatives can be involved in one undercover operation, which “involves a steady escalation in association, influence and pressure, leading up to the creation of an atmosphere in which it is deemed appropriate to encourage the target to confess” to his involvement in the crime under investigation.[3] The scheme culminates in a meeting with Mr. Big, the senior-most member of the organization. The kingpin, a trained police interrogator, will employ a range of threats and inducements in an attempt to extract a confession to the crime being investigated. Mr. Big will tell the target that he has received information from the police, and that the suspect’s impending arrest will be a threat to the gang’s security. As such, the big boss needs to know everything so that he can clean up any loose ends. Mr. Big may offer to frame someone else if the suspect gives him all of the information of the case, he might propose to have a confederate suffering from a terminal illness take the fall, or he may tell the suspect that a mole in the police force could manipulate or destroy any incriminating evidence if he confesses to the crime. In one case, the operatives went as far as to stage a false homicide in which the target was partially involved, and then told the suspect that because he had incriminating evidence about them, he must confess something to them as a sign of good faith to the boss and as a form of “insurance”. In any case, the target is made to believe that by confessing to Mr. Big, he will prove himself to be honest, trustworthy, and able to follow orders. The final meeting is usually recorded, and once a confession is obtained, the lavish lifestyle and elaborate criminal world that has enveloped the suspect quickly implodes, and his newfound friends reveal their true identities. The suspect is arrested and charged with a criminal offense.

The Mr. Big technique is often used as a last resort to investigate cold case files, or where the police strongly suspect someone of committing a crime but have been unable to secure sufficient evidence. The Mr. Big technique has been “used to secure convictions in hundreds of cases.” There is no disputing that it has been highly effective in obtaining confessions from guilty suspects. The problem, however, is that innocent suspects have been given numerous and compelling reasons to want to stay in the criminal organization. Consequently, lying to Mr. Big and falsely confessing may be a risk worth taking if, as a result, the target will continue to enjoy the enhanced lifestyle and camaraderie of his new friends.

Criticism

The Mr. Big technique is invasive and persistent. State agents essentially infiltrate the target’s life and alter its trajectory. Complete records of what took place are rarely available, especially how the target was singled out as a suspect in the first place. Most scenarios are documented by retrospective accounts recorded by operatives hours, or days after they took place. The operation involves the abuse of trust in personal relationships, and state-sponsored deception as a form of social control. Defense lawyers and criminal specialists have argued that the method is risky because it poses a risk of eliciting unreliable confessions. The dangers are spelled out in detail in the appended references.

The Nelson Hart Case

The flaws of the Mr. Big procedure came to light during the R. v Hart case. Nelson Hart was charged in June 2005 with the deaths of his twin 2 year old daughters who died as a result of drowning on Sunday, August 4, 2002. Hart claimed that he had taken the girls, Krista and Karen, to Little Harbor where there was a small wharf. Krista fell off of the wharf, and Hart (who could not swim) panicked and left to get help, leaving the other child. In a later interview, Hart claimed that he had had a small seizure at the time that Krista fell into the water. Karen ostensibly fell in the water during Hart’s absence. He drove home and returned with his wife. Krista was found alive but died at the hospital, and Karen was pronounced dead at the scene. The Mr. Big operation began in October 2002. Preliminary surveillance revealed that Hart was socially isolated, had few friends and went everywhere with his wife. He was also on social insurance with only a grade four education, and had a history of seizures, which became more frequent after a car crash in 1998. The first contact took place when he was paid for assisting in finding an operative’s sister. He was then asked to make some truck deliveries for which he was well paid. A friendship with his operatives developed. He began dealing in fake credit cards, forged passports, and counterfeit casino chips. Hart was made to believe that the gang was nationwide, with branches in Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax. As time went on, the seriousness of the illegal activities increased, along with the lucrativeness of the payoffs. He and his wife were treated to luxurious trips around the country, extravagant shopping sprees and expensive dinners. Hart aspired to join the gang as a fulltime member. In the late spring of 2003 he was introduced to the “boss” (Mr. Big) who told Hart that something had come up from Hart’s past that the criminal organization needed to take care of. Mr. Big confronted Hart about the death of his daughters, and wouldn’t accept his seizure explanation. Under pressure, Hart confessed to pushing the girls off of the wharf. Hart then brought Mr. Big and some operatives to the scene of the crime, to re-enact the drownings. This event was videotaped and served as the primary foundation of the prosecution’s case at trial. In March 2007, a jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder.

Hart appealed his conviction. In 2012, in a (2-1) split decision the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial. According to Chief Justice Green, Hart “. . . was in the control of the state in a manner that was equivalent in degree to detention. It was not reasonable to expect that he would have any reason, or take any opportunity, to leave the organization. That meant he had to subscribe to the culture of the organization and to ensure that he continued to receive the approbation of Mr. Big. Although he obviously wanted to maintain that he had an innocent explanation for the deaths of his daughters, he eventually succumbed when it became clear that Mr. Big would accept no other answer than one which accepted his proposition that he was responsible for their murder. For Mr. Hart in the circumstances in which he found himself there was very little downside to telling Mr. Big what he wanted to hear, since he believed the operatives were not police and he had been assured that any information he gave would be kept from the authorities. On the other hand, in his mind, Mr. Hart had a great deal to lose if he did not accede to the required admission”.[4] The appeal court perceived Hart’s section 7 Charter protections to have been breached.

The crown appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, whose decision was released on July 31, 2014.[5] Writing for a unanimous majority Justice Moldaver declared that confessions arising from Mr. Big operations would henceforth be considered “presumptively inadmissible,” subject to a two-pronged admissibility analysis”. The court ruled that the onus is on the Crown to overcome this presumption by demonstrating that the probative value of the evidence resulting from a Mr. Big operation, including the confession, outweighs its prejudicial effect (prong 1). Confirmatory evidence would constitute a “powerful guarantee of reliability”. In other words, evidence found during a Mr. Big operation would be a vital factor on the issue of reliability, and not the confession per se. The confession itself should be considered carefully to evaluate the markers of reliability. Markers of reliability include components of the confession that coincide with evidence that is known to investigators, information that is unknown to the public, and mundane details that would only be known to the person who had committed the crime. In future operations this evidentiary requirement might shift the goal from getting a confession to unearthing conclusive evidence. The Supreme Court also alerted trial judges to the possible dangers of abuse of process which might take place during Mr. Big stings, and of the need for careful scrutiny during the trials (prong 2). An abuse of process has occurred when police “overcome the will of the accused and coerce a confession”,[6] as was said to have taken place in R. v. Hart. Overwhelming inducements, veiled threats of violence, and intimidation are examples of conduct that could be considered an abuse of process by the police.

The Dax Mack Case

Following the landmark ruling of R. v. Hart the Supreme Court of Canada issued another Mr. Big ruling on September 26, 2014.[7] Dax Mack was suspected of murdering his roommate, who at the time was considered a missing person. A friend of Mack’s came forward to the police with claims that Mack had confessed to him about murdering his roommate. With this information, the police began a four month Mr. Big operation which resulted in two confessions to undercover officers. Mack described shooting the victim and burning his body. During the Mr. Big operation Mack participated in roughly 30 crime scenarios, none of which included high levels of violence and he was paid approximately $5,000 for his work. Eventually the operation lead undercover officers to a fire pit in a wooded area that belonged to Mack’s father. The search resulted in the discovery of the victim’s burned remains, as well as shot gun casings which matched a gun that was confiscated from the defendant’s apartment. Mack was tried and found guilty of first degree murder by a jury. Using the 2-pronged analysis from the Hart (2014) ruling, the Supreme Court dismissed Mack’s appeal in another unanimous decision. They concluded that the probative value of the confession, which was supported by discovery of new evidence, outweighed any prejudicial effect. The Court also found no abuse of process in the conduct of the undercover officers involved in the investigation.

See also

References

  1. ↑ R v Hart, 2014 SCC 52, para. 56
  2. ↑ “Undercover Operations – Questions and Answers”, B.C. RCMP (http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=520&languageId=1&contentId=6943)
  3. ↑ R v Hart, 2014 SCC 52,¶233
  4. ↑ R v Hart, 2012 NLCA 61, ¶244
  5. ↑ R v Hart [2014] SCC 52
  6. ↑ R v Hart [2014] SCC ,¶590
  7. ↑ R. v. Mack [2014] SCC 58

Dawson, Wendy E. (2011). “The Use of ‘Mr. Big’ in Undercover Operations”, Paper 5.2 in Criminal Law: Special Issues. Vancouver: Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia.

Dufraimont, L. (2014). R. v. Hart: Standing Up to Mr. Big. Criminal Reports,

Keenan, K. T., & Brockman, J. (2010). Mr. Big: Exposing undercover investigations in Canada. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.

Moore, T. E., Copeland, P., & Schuller, R. (2009). Deceit, betrayal and the search for truth: Legal and psychological perspectives on the ‘Mr. Big’ strategy. Criminal Law Quarterly, 55(3), 349-405.

Moore, T. E., & Keenan, K. (2013). What is voluntary?: On the reliability of admissions arising from Mr. Big undercover operations. Investigative Interviewing: Research & Practice, 5(1), 46-56.

Smith, S. M., Stinson, V., & Patry, M. W. (2009). Using the “Mr. Big” technique to elicit confessions: successful innovation or dangerous development in the Canadian legal system? Psychology,

Public Policy, and Law, 15, 168-193.

Smith, S. M., Stinson, V., & Patry, M. W. (2010). High Risk Interrogation: Using the "Mr. Big" technique to elicit confessions. Law and Human Behavior, 34, 39-40.