Truth Potions
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Contents
Overview
The usage of truth potions in criminal investigations is a method that is frequently debated within the magical criminology community. Many scholars consider this a viable way to get the truth behind a story from suspects. On the other hand, some scholars say that this is a form of coercing a confession as the truth that someone believes is real can be altered through various means. Whether or not a judge will accept a confession by the means of a truth potion is completely up to them, and dependent on the criminal case being presented.
History
Truth potions were first brought into criminal investigations by Santiago Muñoz, a detective for Mexico's magical government. Santiago was investigating a string of arson crimes throughout the Bajío region in Mexico. The case had started out under the jurisdiction of the Unmagical authorities, but would quickly be handed over to Santiago upon an informant discovering that the fires were started by something magical.
Santiago had suspected that the culprits behind these burnings were a new gang of wizards specialising in selling illegal dark artefacts out of Guadalajara. Upon the case being transferred to the magical authorities, and himself by extension, he noticed that these attacks seemed to target previous locations that were rumoured to house this unnamed gang. Santiago quickly realised that these weren’t attacks, but the gang’s attempts to cover up their trail.
For two years, Santiago tracked down and arrested various members of the gang—which still remained unnamed as they tried to desperately hold onto a sense of mystery and anonymity. In addition to being questioned for the other crimes they were accused of, Santiago interrogated them about the string of arson crimes throughout the Bajío region that they were suspected of. However, not a single one would admit to the crimes. Unfortunately for Santiago, this meant he could not try any of them as he did not have concrete proof that they were the ones who set fire to these locations; he was running out of time before his higher-ups would close the case and mark it as unsolved.
In a moment of desperation, Santiago decided he would request a bottle of Veracitonic, which is a powerful truth potion. He did not inform those around him of his intentions, simply stating that he was going to try to interrogate the gang member they had recently arrested in connection to a robbery. While in the interrogation room, Santiago offered the other man a cup of water. However, rather than pouring water into the cup, he poured the vial of Veracitonic. Upon seeing the cup had been sufficiently emptied by the gang member, Santiago began his interview. He started out with simple questions to test if the potion had taken hold. Once he was certain that the gang member had temporarily lost his ability to lie, Santiago started the part of the interrogation that would give him the confession he wanted. Within an hour, he had a full confession including dates, times, places, names, and information that only the offender would know of. Arrests would be made following the confession and a trial would begin a few months later.
Controversies
When Santiago presented his method of extracting a confession to his higher-ups, he was met with mixed reactions. Many magical political leaders and detectives thought that this was a resourceful and quick way to gain a confession when a detective is absolutely certain that their suspect is the offender. However, others argued that using a truth potion could be considered coercion and will not hold up in court. The main argument behind this viewpoint is that if a suspect’s memory or beliefs are altered to reflect what law enforcement is accusing them of then they will believe this to be the truth. The truth potion would extract a confession that might not be true in reality, but the suspect would believe it to be true.
Due to the mixed opinions on whether or not this method counts as coercion and can be considered as evidence in court, the decision has generally been left to the judge presiding over the case.
Trivia
- You can learn about truth potions and associated crimes in Magical Crime Studies classes taught by the Academics team.
