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By: Carsyn Shawfield
EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
An eyewitness is characterized by someone who sees an occurrence or object with their own eyes and reports what he or she has seen. While an eyewitness testimony seems like it would be a very sound form of evidence, it is surprisingly very unreliable scientifically. This is due to the shakiness of human memory. Memory is not like a camera, we cannot reconstruct our memories into actual visions of what happened. Our brains have a funny habit of editing the memory every time it is relived or thought of. We sort of, fill in the blanks on many aspects of our memories.
While jurors may believe in eyewitness testimony more than other forms of evidence, it is important to note that even confident witnesses do not have a more accurate depiction than less confident witnesses. Rulings based mostly on eyewitness testimony in the past have been many times disproven by DNA evidence.Write a discussion paper on “Since the 1990s, when DNA testing was first introduced, Innocence Project researchers have reported that 73 percent of the 239 convictions overturned through DNA testing were based on eyewitness testimony” (Arkowitz 1). One of the things that can alter the recount of testimony is how a question is posed. Memories are known as “false memories” when they are implemented by another person with realistic details and assumptions. Studies have shown up to one-third of subjects will believe a false story happened to them.
Now, how can we prevent this from happening in law? Many innocent people have been falsely accused of crimes due to faulty witness testimony. One way is to improve lineup regulations. This may be by ensuring lineups are videotaped, non-biased, and informative that the perpetrator may or may not be in the lineup. Investigators can also improve their ways of questioning a witness. It is important to not use any leading or highly descriptive words, such as “slammed into” or “viciously attacked” as these types of words can alter one’s memory of such an event. The courts should tread lightly on eyewitness testimony and it should not contradict any hard evidence such as DNA evidence. There is no federal regulation today involving eyewitness testimony, but some states have adopted different rules and criteria.
