Eyewitness Testimonies Essay
Eyewitness testimonies were a large factor in the conviction of possible suspects. They are commonly asked to recognize the suspect, several years after the actual crime. However, research done by psychologists suggest that eyewitness testimonies are very unreliable. When people encode and process their memories, they lose and alter part of it, and when it is retrieved, the memories have been revised with what they later imagined or experienced. The wording effect and the misinformation effect also plays a large role in leading the witness to reconstruct false memories. For example, by using different verbs like hit, smashed, crashed, and bumped, very different testimonies can be given from the witnesses. Leading questions from investigators …show more content…
Juries can make sure that the questioning process is conducted properly and with little bias. The witness should not be informed of the suspects so they can tell their testimony from a neutral perspective. The one who provides the lineup should also not know the suspect so they cannot provide any cues, like facial expressions, that reveal their thoughts, similar to a double blind procedure. When given a list of faces to recognize the perpetrator from, they should be reminded that the real criminal may or may not be there. The lineup should be organized in a way so that no specific person stands out in comparison. The faces provided should match the witness’ description of the perpetrator rather than the suspect. Rather than giving a long time for the witness to ponder, construct new descriptions of the perpetrator, and thus choose the one they believe seems the most suspicious, they should be given just a few seconds so they must rely on their intuition. This is the speeded confidence procedure, in which they also rate their confidence on the answer chosen. Overall, although eyewitness testimonies have been suggested to be very unreliable, by using these techniques and procedures, the validity of the testimonies can be improved and it can be changed to include minimal bias. However, the
Innocence Project Report On The Case Of Jennifer Moore Case
2099 Words | 9 PagesInnocence Project Report on the Case of Curtis Jasper Moore Tommy Warrick Drake University According to the Innocence Project one of the greatest causes of wrongful conviction is due to eyewitness misidentification. They state that 72% of cases where defendants have been exonerated eyewitness misidentification played a role. Even though eyewitness testimony has been proven inaccurate numerous times, it can still be the decisive evidence in a court of law. This is because the law views the human memory as a camcorder which can record and repeat whatever it sees.
Analysis Of Elizabeth Loftus Memory In Canadian Courts Of Law
851 Words | 4 PagesFollowed by the lack of corroboration, which is an important aspect in courtrooms, “corroboration will add credibility to the memory and lack of it may raise doubts about the allegations.” Loftus considers that relying on memory is not a valid way of justice; the legal system needs to improve when eyewitness testimonials are used in the courts. Loftus confides as a psychologist that psychological science has taught them about human memory and that the research has revealed the limits of human memory. Adding on, these research findings need to be incorporated in procedures to improve the court system. She hopes readers will acknowledge the fact that the use of memories in a trial can be problematic since they are “dangerous” and can lead to false
Summary Of Picking Cotton
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Serial Evidence Against Adnan Syed: Case Study
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Richard Miles: Eyewitness Testimony
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Ronald Cotton Case Study
1428 Words | 6 PagesEffects of post identification feedback on eyewitness identification and nonidentification confidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 334–346. Lindsay, R., & Wells, G. (1985). Improving eyewitness identification from lineups: Simultaneous versus sequential lineup presentations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70, 556–564.
Crime Lineups Paper
754 Words | 4 PagesThis specific procedure necessitates the witness to view each photo separately from the rest so not to pick the suspect due to his/her close similarity. When reviewing photos sequentially, one will be more likely to compare the photo to their memory rather than to the others grouped together. Lineups continue to be called to question from the defense in that there is always the possibility the results may produce a false identification of a suspect. This is commonly due to the officer inadvertently providing verbal or no-verbal clues as the witness reviews the lineup. In addition, lineups are to be construct so those displayed have similarities such a facial hair, eye glass, or skin tone.
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Suggestibility In Eyewitness Testimonials
70 Words | 1 PagesEven though I did not choose the same concept as you I do agree Suggestibility plays a role in eyewitness testimoney because an investigator could tell the eyewitness false statements to try to trick the eyewitness into an wrong answer. Also I believe eyewitness testimonials are not the most precise way of convicting criminals because Distinguishing proof mistakes happen,and these blunders can prompt people being dishonestly blamed and even
Eyewitness Misidentification
1297 Words | 6 PagesIt used to help the jury understand what happened, however, witnesses can easily be wrong. When giving eyewitness testimony, the witness is required to give a description of what they saw, what the perpetrator looked like, and details about the crime, then choose who they think committed the crime out of a lineup. The perpetrator is sometimes not in the lineup, and there are often fillers so the identifier has more to choose from. The lineup is usually what puts the perpetrator on trial, and is an easy place to get something wrong. Overall, it is better to have a lineup done digitally because of possible influence on the witness.
Eyewitness Misidentification Essay Examples
1555 Words | 7 PagesThere are many dangers to misidentification and many causes for misidentification occurring. It is evident that eyewitness identification cannot always be trusted. Under times of distress, you may not have a clear observation of the suspect. DNA evidence has now been another factor in finding evidence in
Eyewitnesses: 60-Minute Segment Of Ronald Cotton And Jennifer Thompson
702 Words | 3 PagesThis week’s topic was very interesting to learn about how important eyewitnesses can be when a crime and accidents do occur. In the case that was presented in the 60-minute segment of Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson is exactly how legal system can fail us when it comes to the eyewitnesses’ identification testimony and how a person’s perception and memory can be altered. The aspect of psychology and law research from this week’s course material is most relevant to the topic of perception and memory. The memory has different stages the first is encoding the process of entering perception into memory.
Essay On Wrongful Convictions
1225 Words | 5 PagesFurthermore, there can be several factors at play when a wrongful conviction occurs and each case is unique. Three of the more common and detrimental factors that will be explored in this essay are eyewitness error, the use of jailhouse informants and professional and institutional misconduct. Firstly, eyewitness testimony can be a major contributor to a conviction and is an important factor in wrongful conviction (Campbell & Denov, 2016, p. 227). Witness recall and, frankly, the human emory are not as reliable as previously thought. In fact there has been much research showing the problems with eyewitness testimony such as suggestive police interviewing, unconscious transference, and malleability of confidence (Campbell & Denov, 2016, p.227).
How To Use Open-Ended Questions In Criminal Investigation
658 Words | 3 PagesEye-witnesses can become the key evidence to resolving a crime, but investigators have to be careful not to damage the integrity of the witness. One mistake can be enough to raise suspicion to the integrity of the witness statement, and have it all thrown out in court. Witnesses are very susceptible to suggestions, and investigators have to be careful not to give the witness any hints or ideas that will damage the statement. In order to avoide such mistakes, investigators use two methods of questioning the witness, which are Open-ended questions, and Close-ended questions. Open-ended questionsOpen-ended questions are a methods of asking a question to encourage the witness to tell what they saw from the beginning, and all the way to the end without giving them any hints.
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1397 Words | 6 Pages, (2003) study. Gabbert investigated the effect of post event discussion on the accuracy of eye witness testimony; where participants
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