Eyewitness identification

Forensic psychology which helps to analyze human cognition, behavior, and emotions is clinically applied in the legal system whereby it enables a better understanding of legal issues like eyewitness testimony, assessment of risks, tactics for interrogating suspects, better enforcement of law and also criminal sentencing (Costanzo & Krauss, 2015). Although psychologists work towards understanding and predicting human behavior, successful prediction of complex decisions remain challenging. Greene…

According to the innocence project’s official web page, only few studies have revealed that between 2.3% and 5% of all prisoners in the U.S. are innocent, equivalent to 20,000 innocent people; a number that continues to grow with the progression of time (How Many Innocent People). The fact of the matter here is that innocent individuals are paying time that are not meant for them to serve. Time which cannot be refunded, nor compensated for. Another perspective is that, often time prison…

jurors who viewed crime dramas regularly also had more faith in any eyewitness testimony offered (Cole and Dioso-Villa,…

being held in prison, while around 100,000 of them could potentially be innocent. As useful as it may be, visual memory is one of the biggest cause of false identification that can lead to putting the wrong person in prison. Eyewitness’s identifications can greatly sway both police and juries. The downfall of visual memory can rise as an eyewitness is told something that may change the way they have seen something from before. Most memory errors can either fall in one of two categories, either…

During a murder case trial, we often see both the prosecutor and attorney presenting the evidence such as DNA evidence that they have found on the crime scene and eyewitness testimony to the judge before he decided the outcome of the trial. [1] This makes us wonder about the possibility that these DNA evidence and witness testimony could be wrong and which one is more superior compared to the other in solving crime cases. I would like to discuss the value of DNA evidence vs witness Testimony in…

include: states that sentence people to death, capital punishment does not serve a purpose, and civilized societies do not engage in such activities. Beginning with states that sentence people to death, it is based on things like mistaken eyewitness identifications, false confessions, failure of turnover evidence, and more (CITATION). This happens in many cases but some people are sentenced to death instead of life imprisonment with parole. However, this happens because of the incompetence of…

rectify such a heinous situation. Eyewitness misidentification is the greatest contributing factor to wrongful convictions proven by DNA testing, playing a role in more than 70% of convictions overturned through DNA testing nationwide. Ronald Cotton is a prime example of how unreliable eyewitness testimonies are. In 1995, Ronald Cotton was exonerated after spending over 10 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. His convictions were based largely on an eyewitness misidentification made by…

unjustly sentenced for one of three reasons: eyewitness error; false confessions; and/or inappropriate use of forensic science. Cases such as Dennis Williams, Kevin Fox, and Claude Jones are unfortunately only a few examples of how the justice system…

she was getting ready to graduate. On the other hand, Cotton is an African American, he had a past criminal record for break and entry and he was not as privileged as a Caucasian individual is. That is why I think the court just used Jennifer’s eyewitness testimony as the sole piece of evidence. If it was a Caucasian male who had a wealthy family, the story would be completely different and much more evidence would be used in that case. The fact of…

DNA exoneration cases, problems with forensic science led to wrongful convictions. This includes blood-type testing, urine samples which in turn can identify large populations of people. Eyewitness Identification reform is another possible way of reducing wrongful convictions. According to Eyewitness Identification Reform Act of North Carolina in 2008, photo line ups should consist of fillers (those who resemble the suspected), there should be at least five fillers, and the lineup should be…