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eyewitness testimony
Johnny J. Stewart Jr.
Strayer University
SCI 110
Professor Nina Walker
July 21, 2014

ABSTRACT
There are many different reasons why the reliability of eyewitness testimony in the United States judicial system today is all but flawed. There is only one way a witness can identify a suspect who has committed a crime, and it is called face to face recognition. Just getting a glimpse, bad weather, and bad lighting can hinder what a person can truly see. There have been several accounts of individuals that have been convicted, imprisoned, and put to death off of flawed testimonies by an eyewitness. In this I will attempt to show you my discussions of several statistics, convictions, exonerations, and key cases that will test the views of anyone when eyewitness testimonies are concerned.

Within the past 30 years crimes were committed, and the people who witness these crimes made the cases have different outcomes. It used to be when a crime was committed, and someone came forward saying, “They have witnessed a crime”. History shows us when it comes to a traumatic experience dealing with crimes; the victims are different and as such react in many different ways. Most individuals panic, some are very calm, while others have no reaction whatsoever. The question has been raised about how reliable an eyewitness testimony truly is. Those who follow crime and courts trials know the stories are familiar and unnerving. Here is one case Cornelius Dupree spent 30 years Texas prison due to a 1979 rape and robbery he did not commit, because of one eyewitness. Cornelius was freed in 2011 through new DNA evidence. Derrick Williams imprison in Florida was freed through DNA evidence after spending 18 years in prison for a rape based on one eyewitness misidentification. Johnny Pinchback, a Texas inmate convicted of a 1984 rape based on one eyewitness misidentification he was freed through DNA testing after 27 years in


References: Aileen C. (May 28, 2012). Is Eyewitness Testimony Inherently Unreliable: http://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/committees/trialevidence/articles/winterspring2012 -0512-eyewitness-testimony-unreliable.html Hal Arkowitz and Scott O. Lilienfeld, (Jan8, 2009). Why Science Tells Us Not to Rely on Eyewitness Accounts: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-the-eyes-have-it/  Barbara T., George F. (April 5, 1999). The Problem with Eyewitness Testimony: agora.stanford.edu/sjls/Issue%20One/fisher&tversky.htm
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