Eyewitness testimonies are considered unreliable and were neglected for helping gather evidence in Steven Truscotts case. There are two witnesses that provided evidence that indicates that a car could have been present where Lynn Harper was rapped. George Edens found Lynn Haper’s body and said you could see car skid marks. Bob Lawson said he saw a car parked near spot but he had never seen a car there before. This all corresponds with Steven Truscotts statement that he left Lynn Harper near highway
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justice system‚ eyewitness testimony is one of the most commonly used pieces of evidence by a jury. It plays a crucial role in criminal court casesas it is relied on heavily for investigating and prosecuting crimes. Eyewitness testimony refers to an account given by a person of an event they have witnessed (McLeod‚ 2009).Whether a person is convicted of a crime or not can ultimately depend on how reliable a person’s recollection of a crime is. When correct‚ eye witness testimony can be helpful in
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Techniques for Improving Eyewitness Testimony: The Cognitive Interview An eyewitness is somebody who sees an act‚ occurrence or happening and can give a firsthand account of the event. The police often rely on such people to provide accurate recollections of these situations in order to aid in their investigations. Research has shown however‚ that eyewitness testimony can be inaccurate and unreliable. It is absolutely crucial that eyewitness testimony be as accurate as possible‚ as there have been
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the dangers of source confusion during eyewitness testimonies. Source confusion occurs when the context and details of a stimulus are misremembered or confused with another stimulus‚ which may only appear familiar. In this case‚ Titus resembled a rapist who was wanted‚ as well as his car was similar to the rapist’s car. When Titus was shown in a lineup‚ he was picked out as the offender. This situation shows that people are capable of having no source memory‚ but can still have a sense of familiarity
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One study of eyewitness testimony (EWT) was by Loftus and Palmer. Their aim was to see whether asking leading questions had any effect on recall. The method used was a laboratory experiment and had two parts to it. The first was showing participants (Ppts) 7 films of car accidents. Participants were then asked questions‚ including “How fast were the cars travelling when they **** each other?” The asterisks were then replaced with a different verb‚ including “smashed” and “hit.” The second part
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classes. Most recently‚ I have conducted research on the validity of eyewitness testimonies and the cognitive psychology behind it. I also had the opportunity to interview Dr. Robert Belli‚ a professor at UNL that focuses most of his research on factors that affect the reliability of eyewitness testimonies such as the misinformation effect and recovered memory. When considering all the problems that are associated with human memory it is understandably flawed‚ but
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Outline and evaluate the effect of anxiety on eyewitness testimony AO1 AO2 Yerkes Dodson law – states that there is an optimum level of anxiety for accurate eyewitness testimony. I.e. People who are not at all stressed‚ and people who are very stressed will be less accurate eyewitnesses that those who are under a moderate amount of stress. Loftus carried out a study of the ‘Weapon effect’. She set up two conditions of the experiment. In both conditions‚ participants heard a discussion in the
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Dec 1862; Eyewitness Testimony of Union Physician Louis Steiner‚ Dr. Lewis Steiner‚ Chief Inspector of the United States Sanitary Commission‚ observed General Stonewall Jackson’s occupation of Frederick‚ Maryland‚ in 1862. He wrote: Over 3‚000 Negroes must be included in this number of Confederate troops). These were clad in all kinds of uniforms‚ not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms‚ but in coats with Southern buttons‚ State buttons‚ etc. Most of the Negroes had arms‚ rifles‚
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Eyewitness testimony Eyewitness testimony can play a big part in criminal court cases. Whether or not a person is convicted of a crime can come down to the reliability of an eyewitness and how confidently he or she conveys testimony to a jury. The problem is these eyewitness accounts aren’t always accurate. The Innocence Project is a non-profit team of attorneys and law students that re-examines questionable murder convictions with the hope of using DNA evidence to overturn the sentences of defendents
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From Fraser’s talking‚ I strongly agree his concern about the eyewitness identification testimony. I agree with Fraser that eyewitness testimonies are not reliable in some cases because “eyewitness testimony can be critiqued on several grounds‚ having impaired perception‚ having impaired memory‚ having inconsistent testimony‚ having bias or prejudice‚ and not having a reputation for telling the truth.” Even eyewitness testimony from honest people can sent innocent people in jail. Therefore‚ even
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