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The importance of evidence in a criminal case
Importance of witness testimony
Importance of witness testimony
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I agree with the significant points made by Ashleigh, Grace, and Donna regarding testimonial support from the prosecution and defendant perspectives.
Testimonial support remains important in the criminal justice system because it benefits witnesses in providing a full and candid account of the allegation. For example, the witnesses who are terrified to testify in court due to the presence of the accused have the ability to provide their testimony by utilizing screen blocking or CCTV conditions.
From a prosecution perspective, testimonial support is beneficial because it allows the court to receive a full and candid account of the allegation. For example, the eyewitness feels minimal levels of stress when testifying because the eyewitness utilizes
This paper will consider eye witness testimony and its place in convicting accused criminals. Psychology online (2013) defines “eye witness testimony” as a statement from a person who has witnessed a crime, and is capable of communicating what they have seen, to a court of law under oath. Eye witness testimonies are used to convict accused criminals due to the first hand nature of the eye witnesses’ observations. There are however many faults within this system of identification. Characteristics of the crime is the first issue that will be discussed in this paper, and the flaws that have been identified. The second issue to be discussed will be the stress impact and the inability to correctly identify the accused in a violent or weapon focused crime. The third issue to be discussed is inter racial identification and the problems faced when this becomes a prominent issue. The fourth issue will be time lapse, meaning, the time between the crime and the eye witness making a statement and how the memory can be misconstrued in this time frame. To follow this will be the issue of how much trust jurors-who have no legal training-put on to the eye witness testimony, which may be faltered. This paper references the works of primarily Wells and Olsen (2003) and Rodin (1987) and Schmechel et al. (2006) it will be argued that eye witness testimony is not always accurate, due to many features; inter racial identification, characteristics of the crime, response latency, and line up procedures therefore this paper will confirm that eyewitness testimonies should not be utilised in the criminal ju...
...d keep the lives of Americans safe after testimonies. It has given witnesses and their families a chance to start their lives over without fear of threats or harm. Above all, this program provides employment and medical care. In addition, I believe it has also helped catch many criminals because it gives civilians the opportunity to testify without the fear that their lives will be in danger. Because of this important program, many dangerous criminals have been convicted due to the witness’s brave testimonies. Also, it is beneficial because the witnesses can choose to go back to their former identities, if they so desire. In conclusion, I do believe that this program is extremely beneficial and it should continue to be funded and supported.
...ls, less likely to make a false statement. Separate the witnesses so they can’t come together with their stories, which give the officers a chance to have real answers instead of having false reports. It’s not unusual to have a witness who is not ready to tell them what they have seen, in fear that they might have to appear in court and testify against the suspect and also which would take away from their job and making money and also they fear that the criminal will find way to strike back for their information (Orthman, Hess, 2013).
Eyewitnesses are primarily used by the criminal justice system for investigating and prosecuting crimes, particularly in circumstances where it is the only evidence available (Wells & Olson, 2003). Their testimony is highly regarded as it allows for police, prosecutors, judges and juries to establi...
With the emergence of DNA evidence, cases ae not as highly dependent on eyewitness accounts. So even now there will be fewer wrongful convictions. Juries, judges, prosecutors and police must adjust the weight that they put in eyewitness accounts. An eyewitness account should be a piece of the pie, not the entire pie.
In the 1980s, there were various studies being conducted that focused on whether eyewitness testimonies were reliable or if the human
The use of an expert witness can be traced back to the 18 century where a professional was first called by an attorney to testify to the court and give their opinion on legal matters. Due to the experts testimony in the case the judge felt confident in choosing what the outcome should be in the case. Since then expert witnesses have assisted in numerous court cases. The practice of expert witnessing has been steadily increasing because of the extensive growth and knowledge in scientific fields and technology, thus the need for experts to resolve legal disputes where lay people would have little or no knowledge (Berger). Today “Expert witnesses are used in a wide range of litigation and their opinions are often viewed as critical—frequently they can make or break a case. As a result, many trials have turned into a battle of the experts. Yet despite their importance, few attorneys take the time to utilize the proper resources to find the right experts, evaluate their credentials, and/or assess the admissibility of their testimony” (Brennan, Dilenschneider, Levin & Robinson, 2009 pg. 4). This essay will overview the role of an expert witness, how to determine credibility of an expert, their effect the court system, and steps that can be taken to ensure quality and honestly in expert testimony
For this study forensic evidence can be considered DNA evidence and/or trace evidence of any kind, included to but not limited to tire tracks, bullet casings, glass shards, fingerprints, and hair samples. Although this study proposes the idea that forensic evidence is more important it currently is not used frequently in the justice system. A study found that out of the cases they examined forensic evidence was collected in 37% of cases but only 18% of those cases were examined (Peterson, Hickman, Strom, Johnson, 2013). Another study found that 38% of participants said forensic evidence was hard to come by while 62% said they had spent time on victim credibility (Menaker, Campbell, Wells, 2016). This shows us that forensic evidence is not used frequently, and more time is spent on making a victim credible instead of finding evidence. It is the purpose of this study to determine if forensic evidence is more important than circumstantial evidence and eye witness testimony. If this can be determined than less time can be spent on things like victim credibility for testimonies, and more time can be spent on analyzing forensic
As we the jury were deliberating what would be the best punishment for the crime the defendant, we examined his record which the jury did not find anything to judge him by in a negative light. We have also heard testimony he has been involved in a conflict with a former inmate. We further learned it has not always been easy to make the defendant to comply with orders from the officials in the
The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.
...s, reduce number of investigative hours, can help a juror come back with a guilty verdict and most importantly save the lives of potential victims.
Witnesses must give evidence from first-hand knowledge, and may not repeat what other people have told
However, eyewitness testimony can play a beneficial part in the criminal justice system if factors such as police procedures are controlled under the strict guidelines. It should be kept in mind though, that even if all the social aspects mentioned are completely controlled, there still remains the possibility that errors will continue to occur due to memory recall errors, and overly emotional witnesses who simply wish to see someone punished for their crimes. But regardless of this fact, there would undoubtedly be a remarkable recovery from the present 45% wrongful conviction rate as displayed within many studies.
For example, in the woodcutter's testimony, he says," And . . . well, in addition to a rope, I found a comb." This proves that many testimonies were different because no one else had mentioned a comb. There are a couple of reasons for the cause of the different testimonies. The first one being, that unlike Tajomaru, they do not want the maximum penalty if they were punished at all. All the witnesses also wanted to feel stronger, and more self-confident, even if it had to be through lying. They wanted to feel like heroes, for thinking that what they did was the right thing to do. For example, in the wife's testimony, she states, "Since his mouth was stuffed with leaves... his voice could not be heard at all. But at a glance, I understood his words. Despising me, his look said only, “Kill me.”... I stabbed the small sword...into his breast." This quote from the wife clearly shows that she thought she was doing the right thing, but in reality, she was not. According to her, she had just murdered her husband for a total
The majority of cases that involve children witnesses are cases that are prosecuting domestic or sexual abuse (Thomson, 1991). This means that the child could either be a person who simply witnessed the crime or someone who was affected by it. This is important because in previous studies people have measured the accuracy of children who just witnessed a crime and those who were involved in it and found that children who had some involvement in it provided more accurate statements (The citation that can be found on your MAC). This is because the child feels some sort of attachment to the case and what actually occurs the culprit of the crime. So when determining whether a child is capable of testifying in a case, looking at the case in whole can let you know if the child qualified to provide a