...Eyewitness testimony is a legal term. It is the detailed account given by a witness in a courtroom, describing what they perceived happened during the specific incident under investigation. This is used as evidence to show what happened from a witness’s point of view. Eyewitness testimony is a crucial area of research in cognitive psychology and human memory; studies into eyewitness testimony have found that it can be affected by many factors. Elizabeth Loftus, a leading researcher in eyewitness testimony, conducted studies to demonstrate that memory is not a factual recording of an event and that memories can become distorted by other information which occurs after the event. Loftus and Palmer (1974) study consisted of two laboratory experiments; both were examples of an independent measures design. The independent variable in both of the experiments is the verb used. The dependent variable in the first experiment is the participant’s speed estimate and the dependent variable in the second experiment is whether the participant believed they saw glass. In the first experiment 45 students from the University of Washington were shown video clips, short excerpts from safety films made for driver education, which were 5 to 30 seconds long. They were split into 5 groups, with 9 participants in each group. After each clip the students were asked to write a report of the accident they had just seen. They were also asked to answer some specific questions but the crucial question...
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...There is nothing quite as convincing to a jury in a court of law than infallible, concrete evidence, however, this type of evidence is not always readily available at a crime scene. It is often necessary to look to other sources, such as an eyewitness, to help settle a trial (Smarlarz & Wells, 2014). This can be problematic due to a number of reasons, the first being that eyewitness testimonies have been increasingly proven, such as through DNA evidence, that the defendant is often misidentified (Innocence Project, 2014). There has been abundant research conducted into false identifications and studies have found, due to numerous reasons including age, bias, gender, cognitive ability and current state, that error rates tend to be quite high...
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...Eye witness testimonies are considered by many to be the most important piece in solving a crime without any evidence. But can you really believe what someone is saying about what they seemed to have saw? I will try to briefly explain some of the positives of eye witness testimonies, then give some information on how eye witness testimonies cannot be of any use to investigators, and a reflection of what I have learned about eye witness testimonies. Let me begin with some positives to having an eye witness to a crime that you may be investigating in the future of your career. If you eye witness can clearly and without hesitation describe and point of to you on the street what the suspect looks like or who they are, it most often means you have got your suspect. Having an eye witness who remembers everything from head to toe about the crime can be very vital to finding who has committed the crime. Even though some eye witnesses can only describe what the suspect looked like, you may be able to get them to positively point them out in a photo lineup....
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...itEyewitness Testimony - Evidence given by a witness to a significant event such as a crime or serious accident. - The evidence usually takes forms of personal identification or verbal account of what happened. - Problems can occur at any point in the memory process: 1) Acquisition: Information the person perceives Poor viewing conditions Focus on weapons 2) Storage: Information the person stores in memory Misleading information Source misattribution errors 3) Retrieval: Information the person retrieves at a later time Best guesses in line-up identification Leading questions - Inaccurate eyewitness testimony can have very serious consequences leading to wrongful convictions. - Why eyewitness testimony may be unreliable? * The role of anxiety: Baddeley 1997 reported that 74% of suspects convicted in 300 cases where eyewitness identification was the only evidence against them. Anxiety may lead to unreliable remembering depends on number of factors. * Research on ‘weapon focus’ Loftus 1979: P were exposed to one of the 2 situations; 1- They overheard a low-key discussion about an equipment failure. A person then emerged holding a pen with grease on his hands. 2- They overheard a heated and hostile exchange between people in the lab. After the sound of breaking glass and crashing chairs, a man emerged from the lab holding a paper knife covered in blood. P were then given 50 photos to try and identify the person. Findings: 1- Accurately identified...
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...Eyewitness testimony is largely affected by the way an interviewer asks questions. This type of evidence is often the most important and therefore, must be retrieved correctly. Courts are skeptical of evidence achieved entirely from eyewitness testimony which makes it extremely important to get truthful and corroborated evidence. It is very easy for an interviewer to put false information into the minds of the interviewees which could in fact incarcerate the wrong person. Receiving eyewitness testimony must be done in a proper way to ensure the information of a particular event is correct. Proper Questions Interviewers must ask questions in a proper manner to ensure there are no bias answers. If questions are asked incorrectly, a person may give perceive changed memories....
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...Eyewitness testimony is a legal term, referring to a person’s interpretation of an event they have seen. Judges have a tendency to pay close attention to eyewitness testimony and find it a trustworthy source of information. Nevertheless, investigation into this area has found that eyewitness testimony can be affected by numerous psychological factor (Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C., 1974). Eyewitness testimony is not as reliable as it may seem at the first glance. It is commonly known that a person would react differently in a stressful situation to how he would react normally. Witnessing a crime is always stressful. The more serious the crime is, the more anxiety a person will feel. However, feeling a little stressed helps improving performance...
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...“The testimony of an eyewitness is so flawed that it can never be trusted” To what extent is eyewitness testimony as flawed as the quote suggests? The eyewitness testimony can be inaccurate and distorted: Eyewitness testimony (EWT) is the evidence provided by people who witnesses a particular event or crime. It relies on recall from memory. EWT includes, for example, descriptions or criminals (e.g. hair colour, height) and crime scenes (e.g. time, date, location). Witnesses are often inaccurate in their recollection of events and the people involved. As you can probably imagine, this has important implications when it comes to police interviews. Many cognitive psychologists focus on working out what factors affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, and how accuracy can be improved in interviews. Loftus and palmer (1974) studied eyewitness testimony and investigated how EWT can be distorted. Loftus and Zanni (1975) also looked at leading questions. Loftus and Zanni (1975) showed participants a film of a car accident, then asked them either ‘did you see the broken headlight?’ or ‘did you see a broken headlight?’ there was no broken headlight, but 7% of those asked about ‘a’ broken headlight claimed they saw one, compared to 17% in the group asked about the accuracy of people’s memories of an event. The accuracy of eyewitness testimony is affected by many factors as well as leading questions, there are other factors that can affect the accuracy of eyewitness...
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...Introduction Eyewitness evidence can be highly persuasive to jurors. However, eyewitness testimony can be mistaken. Eyewitness’ memory of the event may change drastically between the time one first witness an event and the time one recount it to someone else (Loftus, 1975). At the time of exposure and shortly thereafter, observers have much more information than they can later report and that the availability of this information declines rapidly (Sperling, 1960). Furthermore, Clifford and Scott (1978) reported that the emotionality surrounding an incident can affect the testimony of both the victim and witnesses, and both accuracy and completeness. The goal of the present research is to examine the effect of eyewitness testimony on juries....
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...The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony SCI 110 Introduction to Physical Science Professor Pages 6 Abstract: Eyewitness testimony and its credibility has always been a staple of controversy in court cases. Let's take a minute to think back the last time you were in a local retail store. Now ask yourself, are you able to describe the person who was ahead of you in the line? How many details can you really remember about that person? Now how accurate do you think that your description was? Today we are going to investigate just how accurate people's observations are in everyday life. Objective: The purpose of this project today is to determine whether eyewitness account credible and reliable enough to be used as evidence in criminal investigations. We are going to do this by determining witness recollection, gender of suspect, distance away from suspect and date and time affect the accuracy of witness accounts. . Introduction: Eyewitness accounts are always under scrutiny whether in the courtroom, by police and even scientists. In most eyewitness identification the processes typically involve selecting an alleged perpetrator from a police lineup or sketches. After selecting a suspect a formal statement is using made confirming the identification of the subject. Usually the times in which you are asked to give a statement range anywhere from a day to a few days later. Within this time frame ,ask yourself how accurately are you able to recollect...
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...There are many weaknesses and problems with the EWT used in this trial: firstly, at the first interview there was some inconsistency in the group’s descriptions of the robber (2 said he had brown hair and 2 said he had blonde hair), this shows a problem with the EWT used in the trial as clearly straight after the event (the eye witnesses memories of the event would have been the clearest as it had just happened), however as they were interviewed in a group all 4 members of the group heard what the others had to say about the event- subsequently two of the witnesses changed what they said and thus all four claimed he had blonde hair. This is a clear problem with the testimony used in the trial as as all the witnesses were interviewed at the event in a group and due to social desirability and conformity they changed their remembrance of the event- therefore what they said in court may have not been an accurate account of what they think they actually saw. Weapon focus may also have had an effect in this case and this would have also caused a problem with the EWT used as the criminal used a weapon, and as that weapon is a threat to these people’s lives then they would have focussed on that weapon, and as a result this would have distorted what they remembered about the rest of the event (i.e. what the criminal looked like) which makes the EWT used invalid. The police in the investigation did also lead the witnesses to a desired answer as in the third interview they showed them...
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...Daubert Paper Lisa Boetta Acct343-F1WW Tricia Bell October 27, 2013 The Dauber standard is the standard used by trial judges to determine if an expert witness’ testimony is based on scientifically backed up reasoning and if it can be applied to the facts of the case at hand. There are multiple factors to determine if the criterion has been met. They are: “(1) whether the theory or technique in question can be and has been tested; (2) whether it has been subjected to peer review and publication; (3) its known or potential error rate; (4) the existence and maintenance of standards controlling its operation; and (5) whether it has attracted widespread acceptance within a relevant scientific community”. (Daubert Standard) In Daubert vs. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, suit was brought against the makers of Bendectin. It was alleged that the drug caused serious birth defects in children whose mothers had taken it while pregnant. Copious amounts of published scientific literature stated that there was not a link between the consumption of Bendectin and birth defects in humans. Eight well credentialed experts testified that Bendectin can cause side effects in animals as well as in humans, however, their testimony was deemed by the court to not meet general acceptance standards for the admission of expert testimony. Since their findings have not been published by the scientific community, they were not considered to be generally accepted (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals...
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...judges have substantial discretion or ‘considerable leeway’ to determine how to evaluate relevance and reliability and to make a determination on whether to admit the expert evidence. While this decision will make it more difficult when judges are hostile to the type of expert testimony being offered by plaintiffs, there were some helpful aspects to the Court’s opinion that lawyers for plaintiffs should know and emphasize: • The Court rejected arguments that all, or even one, of the four Daubert factors (testing, peer review, error rates, and scientific acceptability) must be satisfied for the testimony to be admissible, noting that even in scientific evidence cases the Daubert factors ‘do not all necessarily apply’; • The Court endorsed the idea that expert testimony from reliable fields of study that conforms with the standards used in that discipline should be admissible (In doing so, the Court was allowing trial judges to exclude testimony that uses techniques or methods not commonly practiced within that field of expertise or testimony based on such claims of expertise as astrology); • Although the Court rejected the tire-failure expert’s testimony in Kumho, the Court specifically noted that expert conclusions based on methodologies consistent with the prevailing norms of that...
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...CJ 1130 Criminal Evidence Project Directions: Answer the following scenarios utilizing the Ohio Rules of Evidence or the Federal Rules of Evidence. Respond to each scenario using the formula detailed in class: 1) respond to the question 2) state the pertinent rule or concept, and 3) correctly apply the rule to the case. Papers must be word processed. No handwritten work will be accepted. Projects are due at the beginning of class on the day of your class meeting during the week beginning October 6, 2014. Due to the nature of the assignment, NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED!!! Feel free to turn the project in early. 1. To impeach Walt Dipsey’s primary witness, the Evil Stepmother, Snow White plans to introduce testimony of seven diminutive witnesses in the neighborhood who will testify that the Evil Stepmother has a reputation for untruthfulness. On what basis can Dipsey exclude some of the witnesses? 2. Charles Foster Kane is arrested for possession of cocaine, which the prosecution asserts was contained in a “snowy” paperweight on Kane’s desk. The prosecutor offers as evidence a lab report stating, “The “snow” in the subject paperweight is 95% pure cocaine hydrochloride.” Is the report hearsay? Why or why not? 3. Peter Pan gives John, Wendy and Michael fairy dust to fly. He is arrested on narcotics charges. Wendy is called as a witness at trial. She can’t remember exactly what happened, but, when she is shown some notes she made at the...
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...the jury to decide is given. Once the prosecution has made their statement, the defense attorney is permitted to give their opening statement, however the defense attorney may request to hold their opening statement until the beginning of the defense case. Once the opening statement has been made, the prosecution begins to present their case. This is where the prosecution calls forth any witnesses they may have to provide testimony for the case. Anyone involved in the arrest, interrogation, or investigation of the crime as well as any witnesses to the crime, may be called to testify. Throughout the testimonies evidence is permitted to be admitted to the court to further help the case. The defense is the allowed to cross examine each witness so that they may try to discredit any statements given that may help to prove the prosecution’s case. After the prosecution has presented its case, the defense attorney may now begin to present their case to the judge and jury. Just like the prosecution, the defense brings in any witnesses or experts to provide testimony along with evidence that will help to prove their case. Once the defense has presented their case the prosecution is given the chance to cross examine the...
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...Debate Paper XBCOM/275 November 12, 2014 Heather Fontaine The topic that I have chosen for the subject of my debate paper is the trial of George Zimmerman. On February 26, 2012 a man that was unknown at the time was about to be the center of controversy when he shot and killed a 17 year old boy named Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. The man in question George Zimmerman was a patrolman for the local neighborhood watch in his area. Trayvon Martin was visiting his father who lived in a gated community one of which is where the shooting occurred. That morning Zimmerman had noticed a male lingering in the neighborhood, he then called the non-emergency line to report this. While on the phone with the police the dispatcher informed Mr. Zimmerman not to follow the individual and that police were on their way. When the police arrived moments later they did not find a male lingering in the neighborhood what they had found was Trayvon Martin on the ground lifeless he had been shot in the chest. As the police walked the crime scene, the items that were found were a cell phone, ear buds, iced tea and a bag of skittles, no gun. The only person that was holding a gun was Mr. Zimmerman, this was to be the only gun found at the scene. This sparked outrage within the town, state and country. Mr. Zimmerman was charged with murder and arrested, he had non-life threatening injuries to his head which were treated. Mr. Zimmerman was questioned for many hours, after being questioned...
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