“Without a psychologist's assistance, the validity of a criminologist's examination would be questionable,” Eva said during a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court.

She commented on the assessment by UI criminologist Ronny Nitibaskara regarding the gestures made by Jessica and Wayan Mirna Salihin and another friend, Hani, during a gathering at Olivier café on Jan. 6, that ended with Mirna’s death. Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) recorded their behaviors.

Ronny said Mirna and Jessica were not so close, pointing out that Mirna did not hug Jessica tightly the way Hani had hugged Jessica.

Jessica was accused of murdering Mirna by putting cyanide in her coffee cup. Mirna died on the way to the hospital.

Eva also said that to see whether someone is guilty or not, a criminologist should not base their examinations only on someone's outer appearances, especially their face, using physiognomy methods or character assessments.

She referred to Ronny’s statement that Jessica was emotionally unstable, narcissistic and often lied after Ronny interrogated her twice at the Jakarta Police headquarters. Ronny said he used physiognomy methods to examine Jessica.

"Physiognomy is only used to describe potential offenses or people who have the potential to commit a crime. It can't be used to determine whether someone is guilty," Eva told judges. (bbn)

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