Validity of Eyewitness Testimony Validity of Eyewitness Testimony In today’s court system one of the strongest pieces of evidence‚ or that most commonly accepted as fact by a jury‚ is eyewitness testimony. When correct‚ eyewitness accounts can aid in the conviction of many guilty people. However when it is incorrect‚ eyewitness testimony can do severe damage. Researchers have found that "more innocent citizens are wrongfully tried and convicted on the basis of eyewitness evidence in Great Britain and
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witness testimony from the bus driver and child witnesses. The court heard from witnesses (classmates) that the boy had pushed Chafe once before the final and fatal shove sent him sliding down the bank onto the snowy‚ slush-covered street below‚ near the rear‚ before wheels of the bus rolled over Chafe’s head and crushed it. (Globe and Mail‚ 2015) Most of the testimonies came from students
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identification proved to be sufficient enough to convince the jury of Cotton’s guilt and sentence him to life in prison. After 11 years of rotting in his cell Ron Cotton was exonerated with the help of DNA evidence. The numbers of exonerations are on the rise and this poses the question whether eyewitness testimony is truly reliable? Research in cognitive psychology exposes major flaws in retrieval of long-term memory and studies exhibit how easily malleable our memories become when manipulated. The study
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The eyewitness testimony is a crucial part of any case presented before a judge and a jury. It affects the decisions immensely and can mean the difference between conviction and a free walk for a criminal. The validity of the testimony is crucial to convicting the right person‚ though even when the person is under oath‚ mistakes can be made. Eyewitness testimony is a complicated business‚ though many believe it hurts more than it helps in many cases due to distractions and third parties. An eyewitness
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unconstitutionally obtained evidence The exclusionary rule is the rule that defines the circumstances in which a court will exclude evidence on the grounds that it has been obtained in violation of the accused’s constitutional rights. Traditionally the common law did not have an exclusionary rule. The court allowed evidence to be admitted that had been obtained through the use of illegal means‚ for example‚ searching a dwelling without a search warrant‚ any evidence obtained is an illegal evidence‚ but this was
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Another source discussing hair analysis‚ emphasizes the problem with the presentation stage in expert witness testimony in court (3). Not only has contamination been a reason for false convictions (1)‚ but also the ways in which the testimony from the hair analysts is worded (3). Investigations of how the phrasing and wording of expert witness testimony impacts the final court decision have been done‚ revealing the misuse of words in court have contributed to wrongful convictions‚ which have created
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Psychology Loftus and Palmer (1974) Aim: To test their hypothesis that that language used in eyewitness testimony can differ memory. Method: Forty-five American students formed an opportunity sample. This was a laboratory experiment with five conditions‚ only one of which was experienced by each participant (an independent measures design). Participants were shown slides of a car accident involving a number of cars and asked to describe what had happened as if they were eyewitnesses. They
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When it comes to handling evidence‚ wearing latex gloves play a major role in that aspect. Contamination of any evidence can corrupt a scene to the point where it would let a criminal walk free. And as far as contamination goes‚ once evidence is contaminated it can’t be replaced of repaired‚ than it would not be admissible in court. When you use latex gloves it helps preserve the condition of the crime scene. Wearing those gloves protects the investigator from leaving any imprint of theirs at the
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Assignment #2 Article #17 Looking Askance at Eyewitness Testimony The use of eyewitnesses has been a constant in of criminal justice system since its very beginning. Unfortunately‚ people do not make the best witnesses to a crime. The person may not have seen the actual criminal‚ but someone that looks similar to them. The witness may lie about what he or she may have scene. Also the witness can be influenced by the police as to who or what they saw at the time of the crime. The witness
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Maglenny Alcantara SOC 101 – Introduction to Sociology Final Report Urbanization and Race in America Race in America is one of those subjects that scholars rarely broach and are heavily criticized for these omissions by their constituents. For this reason‚ the subject of race and urbanization felt a proper choice for this final paper. Following‚ we will incorporate data from multiple sources including Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner‚ a novel that examines the harrowing trials of different
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