Why Is Eyewitness Testimony Reliable

Eyewitness testimony is an account given by people of an event they have witnessed. It is the least reliable yet most relied on source of information that juries use. Even though eyewitness testimonies are generally unreliable, they do have a long history and are still used in court as official evidence; they also provide detailed insight to an event or incident with can help in investigations. Eyewitness testimony can help identify the possible suspects, especially when there is no video or audio recording evidence because it can construct a sequence of events. According to the theory of reconstructive memory people do remember the general occurrence of the event. Although eyewitness testimony can be useful to some extent it should not be the only …show more content…
Leading questions, memory can be easily distorted by questioning techniques information acquired after the event can merge with original memory causing inaccurate recall of reconstructive memory. So in regards to ethics can we really let an eyewitness testimony determine someone’s fate? Ultimately, it is clear that eyewitness testimonies are unreliable, yet it is one of the most common forms of viable evidence that can be used in investigations. Eyewitness testimonies have some sort of significance because they are still used today and we will continue to use them, but jurors and the judge must take into consideration the unreliability of these