Witness testimony is an instrument used in the field of Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement. Testimony is defined as “the oral evidence offered by a sworn witness on the stand during a criminal trial” (Pearson). Witness testimony plays a great role in the Criminal Justice system today, but the skepticism of eyewitnesses has been growing. In order to discover what has went wrong in this technique we should go back to where it was commenced.
Testimony origins from the latin word “testify”, which in ancient Rome had meant testicle. In ancient Rome, “two men taking an oath of allegiance held each others testicles, and men held their own testicles as a sign of truthfulness while bearing witness at a public forum” (psychology today). While the Romans named this practice they did not create it. Amotz Zahovi called this the Handicap Principle. Amotz believed that this was the most sufficient way to obtain dependable information. How has the way we use witness testimony changed today, what rules are put in place for using witness testimony? …show more content…
Two of those rules regarding the federal rules of evidence are 602 and 702. Rule 602 says, “A witness may testify to a matter only if evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter”. The affirmation of prove of their information can be their own testimony. However this does not apply to witness expert testimony, under rule 702. Cornell University law says “Anyone who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience or training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion: if it is based on facts and data”. Someone with this authority could be a police officer, therapist, or even a psychologist. With rules in place to help enhance the strength of witness testimony what is causing the
Testimony origins from the latin word “testify”, which in ancient Rome had meant testicle. In ancient Rome, “two men taking an oath of allegiance held each others testicles, and men held their own testicles as a sign of truthfulness while bearing witness at a public forum” (psychology today). While the Romans named this practice they did not create it. Amotz Zahovi called this the Handicap Principle. Amotz believed that this was the most sufficient way to obtain dependable information. How has the way we use witness testimony changed today, what rules are put in place for using witness testimony? …show more content…
Two of those rules regarding the federal rules of evidence are 602 and 702. Rule 602 says, “A witness may testify to a matter only if evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter”. The affirmation of prove of their information can be their own testimony. However this does not apply to witness expert testimony, under rule 702. Cornell University law says “Anyone who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience or training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion: if it is based on facts and data”. Someone with this authority could be a police officer, therapist, or even a psychologist. With rules in place to help enhance the strength of witness testimony what is causing the