Melissa Calusinski's Body Language
By Daniel Robinson

After interrogating her for nearly 14 hours and forcing a confession from her, the police told Melissa Calusinski to demonstrate what happened.

I want to point out a few things about her behavior and body language during this "reenactment" that shows she's innocent and that her confession is the result of fear and intimidation. There is absolutely no truth to it.
                                                                                                                                                                          (* Keep in mind the camera angle. It's mounted up by the ceiling and facing down. It gives the impression that Melissa Calusinski is more relaxed than she actually is.)
                                                                                                                                                                   

 

Melissa Calusinski's body language shows she's frightened, vulnerable, submissive, defensive, and feels threatened. First look at her body positioning in relation to the police officer. She's not facing him directly. Her body, legs and feet are turned away from him. We unconsciously turn or torso, legs and feet away from people we don't like or perceive as a threat and want to get away from. (It's an evolutionary trait from the time when we had to run toward our food and run away from things that thought we were food. So now our legs go toward what we like and away from what we don't.) She's also leaning back and away from him to create as much distance between them as possible. Also note that her legs never move. She keeps them frozen and clenched together. She's "scared stiff" so to speak. This is a freeze behavior. It's part of the freeze, fight or flight response. When we perceive danger the first thing we do is freeze so we don't draw attention to ourselves and to avoid provoking a predator. It's a way to hide in plain sight. Then we decide whether we're going to fight or flee. Also notice the direction her body is facing. Typically we turn our body, legs and feet toward the nearest exit when we're with someone we don't like and want to get away from. But Melissa is facing away from the exit and leaning back toward the corner of the room. This shows that after 14 hours of being interrogated she's figuratively and literally backed into a corner. She knows flight isn't an option. She has to stand her ground. She has no choice. She has to do this. The only way she can defend herself and make this stop is to do what the police tell her to do.                                                                        

                               Now look at her body language in more detail. This is a submissive and defensive position that comes from fear and stress. This shows she's frightened, threatened, and needs to defend herself. When we feel threatened and have to defend ourselves we instinctively angle our body away from the danger and lean or step away to create distance, tuck our chin and hunch our shoulders to protect the throat, pull our elbows in tight to the sides to protect the ribs, bring our hands up to protect the heart or cover the head, and clench our knees together to protect the genitals. This is a hardwired defense mechanism and survival instinct. It makes us appear smaller and non-threatening to avert an attack. It sends a message to an aggressor that says, "Stop! I'm not a threat. Please don't hurt me. I submit." But if that doesn't work, this stance also presents a smaller target and protects the vital areas of the body if we are attacked. This is the position Melissa is in. She's also using the doll as a barrier and protective shield between her and the police officer. And she keeps her eyes focused on the officer. In a purely submissive gesture we avert our gaze and show our open palms. Since Melissa keeps her eyes on the threat and uses the doll as a shield she's more defensive than submissive. She needs to protect herself. It's similar to a boxer's stance. It serves the same defensive/protective purpose:                                                                                                                                                        

Vince taking a punch from Evander Holyfield on The Herd. He's in the same position as Melissa to brace for the attack.

         

I'm not suggesting that Melissa is in danger of being physically attacked. We react the same way to physical, verbal, emotional, or psychological attacks. We instinctively assume the same defensive stance to avert an attack and to protect ourselves from any type of assault. When we're frightened or threatened in any way it shows in our body language.                                                                             

 In a more sudden and intense situation you would see the same body language with a startle reaction:      

This is obviously more extreme than what you see from Melissa Calusinski. But all of the same elements are present. It clearly shows that Melissa Calusinski feels frightened, threatened, and intimidated by the police officer. 

                                                                                                                                                             Next Melissa throws the doll on the ground. When she does this she makes a very deep, deliberate bow. She unconsciously bows to the police officer. Melissa is lowering herself both figuratively and literally in front of the officer. Bowing is a sign of submission and subordination. (Even when done unconsciously. That's why we don't like to pick up other people's trash off the floor. We don't want to become subordinate to them. We don't want to lower ourselves.)

  Bowing is also an affirmation that means we're going along with another person's point of view. (The head nod is a shortened form of bowing) So Melissa Calusinski is essentially bowing to the demands of the police. By bowing low she's showing her submission and affirming that she'll say and do whatever the police tell her to do. This isn't an aggressive act. It certainly isn't how you would throw a child in a fit of anger. And no one in their right mind would believe that this could generate the force of a 1 - 2 story fall! So she's not demonstrating anything that happened to Ben. She's demonstrating her compliance and submission to the police.
                                                                                                                                                                  Another reason Melissa throws the doll in this manner is so she can place the doll in exactly the right position on the ground for the police. What she does has to fit their scenario. They've told her where Ben's injury was so she knows the doll has to land on its back. This attention to detail is important. She knows that if she doesn't get it right for the police the interrogation will not stop. She even looks down at the doll to make sure it's in the right position based on what the police have told her:                                                                                          

Guilty people usually try to minimize what they've done. A guilty person probably wouldn't show this level of commitment or attention to detail in an effort to "get it right." They would just stand up straight and casually drop the doll to make it look accidental.

                                                               

After bowing to throw the doll Melissa comes back up and makes a half shrug. She pauses in that position. Half shrugs are usually an indication of deception. It means a person isn't committed to what they're saying or doing because they know it isn't true. In other words, it's a lie.

       

She has no confidence in what she's doing. She knows this isn't true. When Melissa says, "Like, I went like this" and throws the doll, she's lying. It never happened.

                                                                                                                                                             Now I want to mention what you don't see from Melissa Calusinski. You don't see any shame or guilt.  

If someone had committed a crime of this nature, accidentally killing a child in a fit of anger, they would feel shame, guilt, remorse, and disgust. Especially during their confession and a reenactment of the crime. But you don't see that from Melissa Calusinski.
Melissa Calusinski is innocent. Her confession is a false confession. It's the result of nearly 14 hours of being interrogated, intimidated, harassed, and bullied. She doesn't belong in prison.