Personal identification

Protecting the integrity of crime scene investigations is of the utmost importance to investigators, courts, potential suspects, and those impacted by the crime itself. There are many components of crime scene investigation and each is critical to ensuring accurate evidence is gathered from the scene. This paper will discuss the steps in the crime scene investigation process, the different types of investigations for different types of crimes, and finally see the process in action in the form of…

After watching the related videos on questioning and memory of eye witnesses I have learned that the witnesses play a huge part in determining who they saw at the scene of the crime. People have been wrongfully accused of crimes that they did not commit just because they have some of the same features as the actual suspect. The courts see eye witness testimony as a crucial factor into determining who has committed the crime. One way that humans tend to memorize things is by seeing the…

The videos clearly show and explain how the eye witness statement can have an impact on the investigation as well as false information being entered into court, which can lead to false conviction. In the first video, almost every interviewee had a different answer, the only thing that was repeated was; “He had a black jacket, wool hat, and he was all”. When the interviewer asked about the hair colour, the interviewees came up with a bunch of different answers. I think this is a perfect example…

evidence an eyewitness testimony was a pivotal turning point in a case and often the only evidence offered to identify a suspect. The most common method of identification of an eyewitness’s account is a line up. These come in different forms from: verbal, pictures, to actual people present in a room. The idea behind these varied forms of identification allows less bias if someone had only had one sense to identify a suspect. For example: someone who was blindfolded could use a verbal line up but…

How reliable is eyewitness testimony Eyewitness testimony is a term used in the legal system to give an account of a criminal incident that has occurred. Mistaken eyewitness identification is responsible for many wrongful convictions. Eyewitness testimony has influenced jury decisions and served as compelling evidence. Eyewitness testimony has also validated evidence and gave a picture of the actual incident. The only problem with eyewitness testimony is that it is not credible. Eyewitness…

Psychological research shows eyewitness testimony, detailing events observed during the commission of a crime, has a high probability of containing significant memory errors. In response to these findings, the question is should witness testimony still be admissible in a court of law? Obviously, the answer to this question is an important one, and, is debatable depending on who you ask. Consequently, what we know is many innocent people are falsely imprisoned due to eyewitness…

To what extent can we rely on sense perception and memory as ways of knowing? My short-term memory has never been something to be praised, I was asked what I had for lunch three days ago, I sat there momentarily thinking about the lunches that I had over the previous days, after a little while I told the person that asked me that I could not answer. I have always had greater confidence in my long-term memory, I generally find it to be more accurate and easier to recall than more recent memories…

Eyewitness identification relies upon the eyewitness memory and the ability for him or her to retain that information and reporting it straight to the police. Memory is considered as evidence because information is being gathered and encoded in memory. Over time the storage holds in the encoded information in the brain until retrieval occurs so the brain can have access to the information. Although memory is not accurate, errors can occur throughout the process of encoding, storage, or retrieval…

After watching How reliable is your memory? by Elizabeth Loftus, I believe that to a great extent, memory is not a reliable source of knowledge because it can be distorted, contaminated, and even falsely imagined. Memory decay, distorted memory, hindsight bias, consistency bias, the availability heuristic bias and suggestibility- are all problems that beset our reliance on memory.“I was there. I saw it.” The phrase that many witnesses confidently use in courts of law- to generally support or…

To begin, Gomberg argues that a normal human life and reliable knowledge of the world around us requires us to have two virtues: we must trust what others tell us; we must be modest about what we believe ourselves to know when we recognize we may be wrong. Either we trust what someone is saying, or we deny it and doubt it. In today’s world, most people find it very hard to believe what another person is saying. They’ve came to know their own beliefs and what they believe to be true or not. A lot…