Eyewitness Testimony On The Criminal Justice System

Eyewitnesses are critical to the criminal justice system, but there have been issues involving eyewitness testimonies, which occasionally cause them to be seen as unreliable. According to innocenceproject.org, 72% of DNA exoneration cases in the United States have resulted from eyewitness misidentification. This is concerning because in a study by Benton, Ross, Bradshaw, Thomas, and Bradshaw (2005), they examined jurors, judges and law enforcement’s knowledge about eyewitness issues. They found that those

Midterm Paper: The Effects of Eyewitness Testimony in the US Criminal Justice System On December 14th, 1982, Marvin Anderson was sentenced to 210 years in prison for crimes that he did not commit [1]. He was charged with rape, forcible sodomy, abduction, and robbery; these convictions were largely due to the eyewitness testimony made against him at trial [2]. During the investigation, a collection of photos was presented to the victim, where Anderson’s photo was the only one in color. Then, in a

The Accuracy of an Eyewitness Testimony Student: Amy Mason Number: 2842657 Tutor: Serena Nicholls Tutorial Time: Thursday 10am - 10:50am Due date: Friday 21st September 21, 2012 Word count: 1858 Psychological research shows that eyewitness testimony is not always accurate, therefore it should not be used in the criminal justice system. Discuss. The reliability if an eyewitness testimony is questionable. The witness may be so certain that the person that thy are pointing out is one hundred

Eyewitness evidence can be fundamental when it comes to solving crimes, however, with the increasing number of cases now being exonerated by DNA evidence, the questions lies, what degree of confidence should be placed on the evidence of the eyewitnesses alone? Countless factors are associated with the accuracy and consistency of eyewitness evidence, such as line up content, line up instructions, the questioning techniques of interviewers and notably the gender and/or age of the witness. Eyewitness

takes hold. You may think this cannot happen to you, but until we fix some major flaws with law enforcement, prosecution deals, and an overloaded system: This could happen to anyone. State prosecutors should not be able to convict anyone on eyewitness testimony only, without any other physical or forensic evidence. In eyewitness identification, in criminal law, evidence is received from a witness "who has actually seen an event and can so testify in court.” (Law.com Legal Online Dictionary) While this

in the accuracy or inaccuracy of the use of eyewitness testimonies in the current criminal justice system. Results collated by several studies add to the bulk of literature suggesting that the current usage of eyewitness testimony by the legal system is far from ideal. Currently, high emphasis is being placed on reviewing and reconsidering eyewitness accounts (Leinfelt, 2004). In particular, recent DNA exoneration cases have shown that mistaken eyewitness identification was one of the largest factors

was also cited as wrongfully convicted due to erroneous eyewitness testimony (“Innocence Lost,” 2004). In the case previously described there are several moments where the witness could have recalled a false memory. Eyewitness error can occur during short-term memory or long-term memory function. From the constructive memory approach the witness could be influenced in a number of ways. If a male of Latino descent had attacked the eyewitness in the past, this could influence not only his or her perception

doubt. A study which polls jurors found that eyewitness testimony is the most compelling evidence which leads a jury to convict (Kerr). But researchers and lawyers can attest that not all 2.2 million people who are currently incarcerated are guilty (Innocence). In some percentage of these cases, the eyewitnesses testifying must have been wrong. Recently, I went to the Equal Justice Initiative annual dinner. Its founder, Bryan Stevenson, a social justice icon and lawyer, hosted the annual

Like many who are facing criminal charges in Wisconsin, an eyewitness statement may have led to your arrest. This type of testimony has long been considered one of the most reliable sources of evidence, however, research has shown that this is not necessarily true. In fact, misidentifications by eyewitnesses contributed to more than 70 percent of the wrongful convictions that were later overturned through eyewitness testimony, according to the Innocence Project. At the Rose & Rose law firm, people

Eyewitness testimonies can be the reason why a person is convicted for an offence they may or may not have committed. Psychological research shows that eyewitness testimony is not always accurate and the memory can be altered. Elizabeth Loftus is a psychological researcher that studies the mind and false memories. Studies and experiments by Elizabeth Loftus, Florida Atlantic University psychologists and many other psychologists provide evidence that supports the theory that memories can be altered