Police got in psychologist Ronald Fisher to assist in helping the crucial witnesses recollect more and valuable information. Fisher's interview involved a precise set of memory-enhancing tactics which formed an interesting break-through in the case: The woman reported a rich visual image of one of the suspects as he brushed the hair from the front of his eyes. She then remembered specific details about his profile, which included a silver earring that he was wearing at the time of the incident.
The conviction of guilty offenders when adhering to the guidelines of the NSW criminal trial process is not difficult based on the presumption of innocence. However, due to features of the criminal trial process, established by the adversarial system of trial, cases can often involve copious amounts of time and money, particularly evident in the case of R vs Rogerson and McNamara where factors such as time and money are demonstrated to be in excess. In addition, characteristics of the adversarial system such as plea bargaining has the power to hinder convictions due to the accused having the authority to hire experienced and expensive lawyers to argue their case, hence maintaining their innocence.
The applicant Mr. Arthur Hutchinson was born in 1941. In October 1983, he broke into a house, murdered a man, his wife and their adult son. Then he repeatedly raped their 18-year old daughter, having first dragged her past her father’s body. After several weeks, he was arrested by the police and chargedwith the offences. During the trial he refused to accept the offence and pleaded for innocence. He denied accepting the killings and sex with the younger daughter.
A summary of the case details (provide the circumstances surrounding the case, who, what, when, how)
Barry Winston made a remarkable statement during his appointment with the young man in paragraph 3 on page 111, which states “of course I believe him, but I’m worried about finding a judge who’ll believe him”. However, in my opinion, I wouldn’t have thought him to be vindicated. Moreover, all evidence proved that he was indeed guilty even if he doesn’t remember the incident, the young man had 3 beers
``In criminal law, confession evidence is a prosecutor’s most potent weapon’’ (Kassin, 1997)—“the ‘queen of proofs’ in the law” (Brooks, 2000). Regardless of when in the legal process they occur, statements of confession often provide the most incriminating form of evidence and have been shown to significantly increase the rate of conviction. Legal scholars even argue that a defendant’s confession may be the sole piece of evidence considered during a trial and often guides jurors’ perception of the case (McCormick, 1972). The admission of a false confession can be the deciding point between a suspect’s freedom and their death sentence. To this end, research and analysis of the false confessions-filled Norfolk Four case reveals the drastic and controversial measures that the prosecuting team will take to provoke a confession, be it true or false.
Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do? If so have you spent time in jail for it? Well think about not doing something and not having any proof to prove you didn't do it because there wasn't DNA testing or getting accused of it knowing you didn't do it.
For this book report, I decided to read Hugo Münsterberg's On the Witness Stand. This book contains essays on psychology and crime and eyewitness testimony. Today this book is used as a reference for many issues in forensic psychology. For this report, I focused on two chapters of the book: Illusions and the Memory of the Witness. I am going to first summarize the two chapters I read then talk about what was going on at the time this book was written. I will then report some of the research in the book, and finish with my opinion on how this book has contributed to the literature and how it relates to the current knowledge of forensic psychology.
Elizabeth Loftus, is a psychologist, mainly concerned with how subsequent information can affect an eyewitness’s testimony. Loftus has focused on misleading information in both the difference in wording of questions and how these questions can influence eyewitness testimony. This research is important because frequently, eyewitness testimony is a crucial element in criminal proceedings. Throughout Loftus’s career she has found a witness’s memory is highly flexible and subject to being influenced. The classic study by Loftus and Palmer (1974), illustrates that eyewitness testimony can be influenced by leading questions and ultimately proved unreliable.
Researchers found that retroactive interference, whereas, a witness may have read the newspaper, or, seen other media reports of the offense can alter memory. Another issue when evaluating eyewitness recollection is the role that the distraction of a weapon may play on recalling events. An attorney would want to know; was the witness paying attention to the crime, or, were their eyes preoccupied by the presence of a weapon. Author, R. Feldman discusses this matter in his book Understanding Psychology (2013), he writes: "When a criminal perpetrator displays a gun or knife, it acts like a perceptual magnet, attracting the eyes of the witnesses.” These are only a few of the problems that lawyers must
This study took place because if memories are believed to be inaccurate then why are things such as eyewitnesses’, in legal proceedings, taken so seriously when their memory can easily be false
The manner in which memories are constructed lends itself to errors. According to the constructive approach to memory, what people remember is not only based on what actually happened, but also include other factors such as previous knowledge, experiences, and expectations (Goldstein, 2011, p. 249). This is troubling due to the fact that eyewitness testimony is the foundation of most criminal trials. The case of Mark Diaz Bravo is an example of how false testimony can not only destroy an individual’s life, but how eyewitness error can lead to the wrongfully convicted being falsely imprisoned. Mr. Bravo was accused of raping a psychiatric patie...
shown when The victim initially identified Butler from a book of mug shots and later identified
The story of Antwone Fisher is a very intriguing and moving story. Antwone Fisher was an individual that was resilient and had endured so much in his life. As a young child, he did not live in the best environment. He lacked the guidance that is recommended that a child should have. There are two theories that may help to explain Antwone Fisher. These two theories are Bandura’s modeling theory and Roger’s self-actualization theory.
Roesch, R., & Rogers, B. (2011). The cambridge handbook of forensic psychology. Canadian Psychology, 52(3), 242-242-243.
Eyewitness testimonies are a well-known evidence around the world to seek out people. It has been used in numerous cases and many people have been convicted with eyewitnesses alone. The problem is that such testimonies alone can be very inaccurate and lead to wrongful convictions. Our memory and our ability to remember is very corruptive by many factors. Some factors can be emotions, event, personal experience, stress level, and the will to help. In this assignment I will discuss what I learned about the questioning that happens during an interview, and how it impacts the response a witness may give.When we learn something new we store that information so that we won’t forget it. How much or how good we remember something is how we measure