Introduction Opening Paragraph: Eyewitness accuracy can be described as the evidence given by witness to a event such as accident or a crime by relying on their memory. It is an important topic to study because it is crucial in criminal investigations, prosecutions and to describe criminal scenes. This is a crucial area to investigate in Psychology because eyewitness errors are the most common reason why innocent people are falsely convicted and the consequences of the latter can be lethal. Mindfulness
Literature Review of Eyewitness Memory The intention of this paper is to examine the reliability of eyewitness memory that is believed to be help in high regard by police and the legal system in suspect identification. The court’s reliance of eyewitness testimony is referred to in fiction and nonfiction writings across the span of history. However, in more recent years, there is increasing evidence contradicting the preconceived notion that eyewitness testimony and memory should be received by
can prove to be detrimental in the case of eyewitness testimony. Convictions made solely by eyewitness testimony puts the fate of the defendant in the hands of the witness, and at the mercy of their memory. There are numerous factors that can taint the memory of the witness, which unfortunately has the power to wrongfully convict an innocent person. Upon review, a study found that more innocent citizens are wrongfully convicted on the basis of eyewitness testimony than any other factor (Smith, Stinson
In a TedTalk concerning the dubious reliability of an eyewitness at the scene of a crime, forensic psychologist Scott Fraser explores the conviction of Francisco Carrillo and the fallible nature of the brain in encoding, storing, and retrieving memories. With the use of critical thinking and research based knowledge, discussed are the speaker’s claims, reactions to the talk, and a personal evaluation of eyewitness memory. As the forensic neurophysiologist in the case leading to Carrillo’s conviction
There have been several cases in which eyewitness testimony led to the conviction of an innocent person. In one notable case, Raymond Towler was wrongly convicted in 1981 of the rape, kidnap, and assault of an 11-year old girl based on eyewitness testimony in which the victim and other witnesses identified him from a photo. Towler had been serving a life sentence and was released in 2010 after serving nearly 30 years until DNA evidence proved that he did not commit the rape (Sheeran, 2010). In another
finger, accompanied by the solidifying eyewitness statement “He’s the one!” is enough for a jury to make its final decision in a court case. Although it is understandable, when faced opposite of the individual creating the accusation, to place one’s belief in the accusation made, the credibility of the eyewitness’s account of events are rarely taken into consideration. Psychologists have taken part in research that recognizes the unreliable nature of eyewitness statements used to determine guilt because
Identification of Area An eyewitness is considered to be a valuable asset for police officers who are involved in solving crimes in order to protect the community and convict those who are in the wrong. An eyewitness is a person who has either seen a crime or has some sort of knowledge of the wrong doing and can be a victim or bystander. When the police begin to question the witness, the accuracy of the answers will depend on the clarity of the memory, and the ability to recall and retrieve the
Eyewitness identification is ineffective and ultimately unjust. Studies have shown that approximately 40% of eyewitness identifications are wrong (Vrij, 1998). Eyewitness identification is given great importance in the legal system. As such, the most accurate and least influential process on witness’s decisions is required. This essay examines the three main types of eyewitness line-ups; the showup, the sequential and the simultaneous lineup. This essay then concludes which is the best and which
Eyewitness testimony is defined as, “an area of research that investigates the accuracy of memory following an accident, crime, or other significant event, and the types of errors that are commonly made in such situations.” Much emphasis is placed on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony as often-inaccurate eyewitness testimony can have serious consequences leading to wrong convictions. Eyewitness testimony is a powerful tool within any field, particularly that of justice, as it is a readily
inaccurate. In the criminal justice system, eyewitness testimonies are extremely valuable in a case. So knowing that memories can be altered and humans are known for error, is it possible that the witnesses testimonies can make an innocent person be held accountable for a crime they did not commit? The answer is yes. There are outside factors that can change the memory of an eyewitness. Consequently, it is important to not convict someone guilty solely based on eyewitness testimonies and more on the actual
still be permissible in a court of law? Obviously, the answer to this question is an important one and is debatable. Consequently, what we know is many innocent people go to jail due to eyewitness misidentification. Therefore, it is imperative that all defense attorneys thoroughly evaluate the validity of eyewitness recollection events. Any defense attorney who does anything less is ignoring the findings of the psychological community and its’ study of how the brain functions. As a result, an intense
Within the criminal justice system, it is evident that jurors rely heavily on eye-witness testimony in determining the guilt of a suspect. Psychological research in relation to this issue primarily focuses on the correlation between confidence and accuracy and in doing so asserts that jurors perceive that the more confident a witness appears, the more likely they are to be accurate in their testimony (Cutler & Penrod, 1995). By corroborating both Wise et al. (2009) and Cutler et al. (1995), it is
Eye Witness Testimony An eyewitness testimony is when an individual witnessed an evert firsthand and recalls the details. This can be as simple as recalling a time with friends and family at Christmas, or something as serious as a crime that has occurred. Eyewitness testimony has been controversial in court cases for a while. The reason for controversy is because eye witness testimony can be inaccurate or influenced. The judge and jury do not want to make a wrong decision by trusting the eye witness
The Effect of Hypnosis on Eyewitness Testimony Works Cited Missing Under hypnosis an eyewitness could produce false information whist giving a statement to the police. This is because one of the characteristic of being hypnotised is being sensitive to suggestion. Therefore the witness can give suggestive information through leading question (even if this isn't intended). It could lead to an alteration of the existing true memory. Although hypnosis might produce increased recall, it also produces
edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1140&context=scholar This Article thoroughly investigates in great detail many methods that prosecutors should use in order to accurately analyze eyewitness testimonies. These methods will significantly enhance the ability of the criminal justice system and those within it to assess eyewitness accounts and the accuracy of the accounts that are given. These methods will help to reduce and hopefully eventually eliminate wrongful convictions throughout not only the US but
crime he did not commit. He was convicted of brutally beating and raping a child based on three eyewitness identifications of him at trial. The case against him was substantively weak: there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, circumstantial evidence indicated that the intruder was not him, and his pregnant wife testified at trial that he was home with her at the time. But, eyewitness testimony is viscerally powerful evidence, and the jury found Calvin guilty beyond a reasonable
Eyewitness Error The justice system depends on eyewitness evidence to convict offenders. Eyewitness is a difficult task to achieve in the justice system. According to Wise, Dauphinais, & Safer (2007), in 2002 one million offenders were convicted as felons in America. Out of those one million offenders, 5000 of them were innocent in 2002 (Dauphinais, 2007). The Ohio Criminal Justice survey states that 1 out of 200 felony criminal cases is a wrongful conviction (Dauphinais et al., 2007). According
Eyewitness testimony has been used for many centuries and continues to be a part of our criminal justice system. Although, there has been many controversy debates on whether to allow the continuation of these testimonies in court, and allow it to be used as evidence. Eyewitness testimony can either be harmful or useful for an individual. We must fully analysis and see what certain factors (psychological, and age wise) come into the equation before coming up with final conclusions. A case study titled
Eyewitness testimony is the evidence given in a court or in police investigations by an individual who has witnessed a crime or offense (Loftus, 2003). Eyewitness testimonies rely heavily upon a human’s memory. “Given the complex interaction of perception, memory, judgment, social influence, and communication processes that lead up to an eyewitness’s story of what happened, it should hardly be surprising that such testimony often is a faulty version of the original event (Wells, 1987)." Eyewitness
In recent years, the use of eyewitness testimonies as evidence in court cases has been a subject in which various researchers have been interested in. Research suggests that eyewitness testimonies are actually not reliable enough to use as primary evidence in court cases. There have been many cases in which an innocent person gets sent to prison for a crime they did not commit because an eyewitness testified that they were the ones that they saw at the scene of the crime. Researchers’ goal is to