U.S. Supreme Court
Magicians Penn & Teller file Supreme Court brief questioning use of ‘investigative hypnosis’
Magic duo Penn & Teller argue against the use of hypnosis in a U.S. Supreme Court brief challenging the murder conviction of a Texas man who was identified by a hypnotized witness. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images)
Two of the world’s most famous magicians have filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that using “investigative hypnosis” to help a witness identify a man convicted of murder is nothing but an illusion.
The New York Times and SCOTUSblog report that the famous duo filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the justices to consider an appeal in the conviction of Charles Don Flores, a death row inmate in Texas.
In the brief, the magicians said they reject the “exploitative” use of the hypnosis and the unscientific belief “that hypnosis is a tool for traveling back in time to extract picture-perfect memories.”
On a video call with reporter Adam Liptak of the New York Times, Penn Jillette, the talkative member of the magic act, said while he does not know much about many things, he is, however, an expert in misleading people. He thinks that a police officer’s use of hypnosis on a witness to identify Flores as a suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Black should not be trusted.
The brief noted that there was no physical evidence against Flores. The witness who identified him at trial had initially described someone who looked nothing like him. That changed after she underwent hypnosis.
“I am bringing this to you with the utmost humility,” Penn told Liptak. “I am carny trash. I am uneducated. If you want to say I have a position of expertise, it is that I have lied to people onstage and gotten them to believe it. And I think I could do what that police officer did.”
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
