A Canadian interrogation expert said the use of postmortem photographs in an interview in Co Donegal in combination with other alleged elements such as being shouted at and pushed would not be justified in his country.
Insp Donald Adam, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was giving evidence as head of a high-level interrogation unit in British Columbia whose officers are brought in to major crime investigations.
The tribunal is looking into the wrongful arrest and detention of 12 people in connection with the death in Raphoe in October 1996 of cattle dealer Richie Barron who gardaà believed had been murdered. The tribunal has since found that Mr Barron was a hit and run victim.
Yesterday, tribunal lawyer Paul McDermott SC referred to postmortem photographs of Mr Barron which had been shown to some of those interviewed including Róisín McConnell.
Mr McDermott said one of the admitted facts was that Mrs McConnell was shown post-mortem photographs.
"They were fairly graphic and she was also subjected at or about the same time to being shouted at, being pushed around the room on the admitted evidence of one detective garda and other elements of what might be regarded as ill-treatment," he said.
That was a scenario in which photographs were used and apparently one was pushed up towards her face, lights were switched on and off at the same time, he added.
"Now could you see any circumstances where the use of photographs in that context could be justified?" he asked.
Insp Adam replied: "Well, it wouldn't be justified in Canada. Whatever you obtained from that would be inadmissible, you'd be investigated."
He said that if the operational belief was that the photographs should be shown then the officer would have to articulate his thinking and it had better be sound.
If the officer felt it was a necessity, it was a harsh tactic but he had to live with that decision.
"But the other stuff, if true, in combination, it's a horrible combination. So now whatever legitimacy you felt you had in feeling you were going to travel one road, in Canada, you would have lost it with all the other stuff, now you've just lost everything," Insp Adam said.
He said the officers in the interrogation unit were brought into investigations to conduct interrogations, where the the investigating officers had become over-committed to a particular theory.