Eyewitness Testimony Evidence

The trials usually played out in 3 major steps. At the trials, the woman or man accused would first have to pass a test maybe, saying a Lord's prayer. Next, they would have to do a body checked for warts or birthmarks because people would think that would be a portal for the devil. Last, they would have to

First off, the two most exceptional factor used were superstition and religion. When the accused appeared in court, just about all pleaded innocent. As they did so, the afflicted girls always managed to create some type of scene by using superstition. For example, when Sarah Cloyce is being prosecuted, Abigail states that she sent her spirit to bite and scratch her earlier that morning. Another example was when the afflicted girls screamed that the youngest of all of the accused, whom was only a four year old child at the time, had the spirit of a yellow dog with foam flowing through her mouth which just had to be an act of the devil. All of those accusations happened due to the trail of lies the afflicted girls had brought onto Salem, which is what leads into how religion is used as an enormous factor in the witch trials.

The Salem Witch Trials was a harsh time in Spring 1692. A time when young girls were accused of witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials included harsh torturing methods for those accused of witchcraft. Torturing methods included swimming test, prayer test, touch test, witch cakes, witch marks, pricking and scratching test, incantations. These were some harsh punishments. Practicing witchcraft was considered a horrible crime on a scale with rape and murder. The 18th century Code of Hammurabi contained punishment against sorcery, and many medieval legal systems listed specific reasons for identifying, trying and even executing suspected witches and warlocks. Since finding proof of evil was no easy task, witch-hunters often went to some particular experiments in their journey to kill accused witches. From awful tortures and terrible dessert dishes to unwinnable trials by ordeal, find out more about unusual tests once used against evil misconduct.

(History of the salem witch trials) People cried witchcraft to get revenge on, or get rid of people they did not like or wanted land from, and they didn’t need real proof. The girls that started the Salem witch trials were having “fits” the symptoms of these fits were hiding under furniture, contorting in pain, and fever.(History of the salem witch trials) The salem witch trials started shortly after the first girls experienced fits in the 1600’s.(History of the salem witch trials) The girls used spectral evidence, something that eventually became inadmissible in court because it could not be proven. (History of the salem witch trials) Other evidence was having a “witch’s teat” a mole or blemish on a person’s body, owning a poppet, ointments, and having books on the occult. (History of the salem witch

Religion induced fear and its effect on the Salem witch trials During the Salem Witch Trials over a six month period over one hundred people were accused of witchcraft and nineteen people were hanged with no hard evidence (Louis-Jacques). Through the witchcraft craze, which lasted hundreds of years, many different methods were employed to prove a witch’s guilt. Salem used a very odd type of evidence, spectral evidence, which required no eyewitnesses and could be easily made up. Contrasted to many witch trials, which had a least some standard of evidence that attempted to prevent an innocent person from being executed. In Puritan Salem religion was important and present in every aspect of their lives, which contributed to the fear that the people felt during the trials. In most witch trials physical evidence was used to prove guilt, however the Salem witch trials used spectral evidence due to increased hysteria in the community.

In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials started due to mass hysteria (Miller, 1124). The witch trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts, when a group of girls were caught dancing in the woods (Miller,1124). In the Puritan society, both dancing and spending time in the woods were considered to be sinful (Miller,1124). They believed that if someone sinned, the devil could enter their life (Witchcraft in Salem [Us History.org].). Witches were the work of the devil, therefore, the Puritans developed tests to determine if they were indeed witches (Witchcraft in Salem [Us History.org].). The tests included repeating the Lord’s Prayer, marks on the body, water tests and confessions (Witchcraft in Salem [Us History.org].). However, once a person was

Besides testimony, witches were also identified by midwife's examination. If any black marks were found on the accused's body, the mark was often considered Satan's mark and proof that she was a witch.

Contrary to popular belief none of the accused were surrounded by pitch forks and chased to the middle of town to be burned at the stake. There was a form of due process after a male or female was accused. The description on how to seek out a witch is described on the book Maleficavm released in 1496. The characteristics of a witch varied from a witch’s teat to dangerous tests, none the less there had to be concrete evidence. Once a witches teat is discovered it is poked with a needle to test is they would bleed. In addition risky tests such as a floating test were held. If the colonist was to float they were deemed as a witch however if they sunk they were not. Torture was also a common way to get the accused to admit to

In the beginning, before the trials ever began or were even thought of was something every witch is greatly aware of, The Inquisition. It was the catholic tribunal's way of exposing and punishing those that they called 'Religiously Unorthodox'. By 430 AD there came a civil code that ordered death sentences and cruel punishments to anyone who believed in something that was supposedly against the beliefs of Roman Catholicism. Sorcery was considered great heresy. Many years later this so-called civil code of the Inquisition was made law and so

Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials was a harsh time in Spring 1692. A time when young girls were accused of witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials included harsh torturing methods for those accused of witchcraft. Torturing methods included swimming test, prayer test, touch test, witch cakes, witch marks, pricking and scratching test, incantations. These were some harsh punishments. Practicing witchcraft was considered a horrible crime on a scale with rape and murder. The 18th century Code of Hammurabi contained punishment against sorcery, and many medieval legal systems listed specific reasons for identifying, trying and even executing suspected witches and warlocks. Since finding proof of evil was no easy task, witch-hunters often went to some particular experiments in their journey to kill accused witches. From awful tortures and terrible dessert dishes to unwinnable trials by ordeal, find out more about unusual tests once used against evil misconduct.

The English had been hearing witchcraft cases for centuries before Salem. But, to no surprise, it was very hard to actually prove anyone committed the crime. “The crime of witchcraft presented an especially excruciating challenge. It was regarded as one of the most heinous crimes, yet, being clandestine by nature, it was extremely difficult to prove. The scarcity of eyewitnesses and direct physical evidence highlighted the need for innovative mechanisms of proof” (Darr, p. 3). The secret nature of the crime itself makes it hard to prove, which is one of the reasons that no one could ever successfully accuse someone of witchcraft today with the modern judicial system. But the English had devised experiments and tests to determine someone’s guilt. Like most of the ways of attempting to pull out a confession in those days,

Credability of Eyewitness Testimony Is Eyewitness testimony reliable and accurate? Include case studies to back this up. EWT refers to evidence supplied by people who witness a specific event or crime, relying on their own memory. Statements often include

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. These trials began after a group of young girls in Massachusetts claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several other locals of witchcraft. After this broke out a special court convened in Salem to “hear and determine” (Mather 328)

Eyewitness identification and testimony play a huge role in the criminal justice system today, but skepticism of eyewitnesses has been growing. Forensic evidence has been used to undermine the reliability of eyewitness testimony, and the leading cause of false convictions in the United States is due to misidentifications by eyewitnesses. The role of eyewitness testimony in producing false confessions and the factors that contribute to the unreliability of these eyewitness testimonies are sending innocent people to prison, and changes are being made in order to reform these faulty identification procedures.

The aim of this experiment is to investigate the effect of leading questions on eyewitness testimony when asked to estimate the speed that a car is travelling in an accident. Participants were asked two questions in total. The first question was regarding the speed of the car with contrasting verbs (crashed/collided), the second question asked was whether there was any glass at the scene of the accident.