Andersons Case Study

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Andersons cases was not the only case were a person was convicted of a crime and was later exonerated, when the DNA evidence came to light. According to Clare, 2012, Cornelius Dupree was in prison for 30 years in Texas, for a rape he did not commit, but one witness identified him as the criminal. Derrick Williams spent 18 years of his life behind bars for a rape charge and was later exonerated due to DNA. Johnny Pinchback was released from a Texas prison after 27 years behind bars. He was proven not guilty by the DNA evidence that proved the witness had misidentified him as the perpetrator. Alvin Jardine also spent 20 years of his life in prison (Clare, 2012, para. 1). These are just a few cases that prove that eyewitness statement are not …show more content…

In Gittins, Paterson, and Sharpe (2006) study they tested how traumatic situations effect the way they remember things. The participants of the study were shown a video of what happened after a car accident. The video showed many hurt victims and at the end a dead body with a mangled face. The participants had a task of writing everything they remembered about the video. Then they filled out a Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, which assess the participants lever of stress, anxiety and depression. For the Memory measure section, the participants were given a questionnaire that were structured in the form of a cross-examination style questions. The study showed that when the participant frequently recalled the event both lead to an increase in accuracy and a likelihood of developing false memories. And avoidance of the event had lead to a decrease in memory. This research suggests that some PTSD symptoms can help memory recall and others can prevent it (Gittins, Paterson, and Sharpe, 2006, p. 25). PTSD is not proven to help memories, yet it is not proven to harm it. It can be something that interferes with memories, in some cases it can lead to misidentification of suspects involved in traumatic