...Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony Eyewitness testimonies have played a major role in many wrongful court convictions. There is a great difficulty faced by many eyewitnesses when identifying perpetrators of crimes. Additionally, existing procedural safeguards are insufficient to put off erroneous convictions caused by eyewitness errors. It is therefore important to have a scientific method that can enhance reliability on eyewitness testimony when making a judgement in a court of law. Based on thirty years of broad scientific study on eyewitness testimony, this article delineates a tripartite solution to eyewitness error. This is necessitated by the fact that criminal justice system mainly relies on eyewitness evidence to convict suspects. Often, eyewitness evidence happens to be the only evidence available and if appropriately handled it can be very reliable. The proposed solution maintains accessibility of eyewitness substantiation, while at the same time providing safeguards to uphold its accuracy and reliability. Court of laws and criminal justice system can rely on eyewitness Testimony. This is the hypothesis that will be tested through research on the internet, books and other relevant sources. The expected outcome of this research paper, it will be easy to tell whether or not jurors can rely on eyewitness testimony. In this tripartite solution, the first component is allowing experts testimonies when the sole or primary evidence against the...
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...00-BBR_18.2.book Page 209 Friday, September 12, 2008 12:00 PM Bulletin for Biblical Research 18.2 (2008) 209–231 “The Disciple Jesus Loved”: Witness, Author, Apostle— A Response to Richard Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses andreas j. köstenberger and stephen o. stout southeastern baptist theological seminary Richard Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006) makes a persuasive argument that the Gospels display eyewitness testimony and thus renews the quest for the identity of the Beloved Disciple as the author of the Fourth Gospel. While Bauckham attributes this Gospel to “the presbyter John” mentioned by Papias, the authors of this study show that the patristic evidence more likely seems to support the authorship of John the apostle and that the literary device of inclusio in the Fourth Gospel, astutely observed by Bauckham, also favors the authorship of John the son of Zebedee. Key Words: Fourth Gospel, Beloved Disciple, John, authorship, apostle, Zebedee, John the Elder, Papias, Eusebius, Muratorian Fragment, Polycrates, Irenaeus, Bauckham Introduction Recent years have witnessed a significant number of publications on the identity of “the disciple Jesus loved” in John’s Gospel. The ever more daring proposals have included identifications of this figure as diverse as the apostle Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, James the son of Zebedee, and even the Samaritan woman, among others. 1...
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...William Lutz’s essay, “No One Died in Tiananmen Square”, relates to George Orwell’s depicted government of Oceania in 1984 in a multitude of ways. Lutz’s writing is similar to those of a person working in the Ministry of Truth as shown through his compliance to the government with his manipulation of the events. The Chinese government manipulation of the mind of the people to believe their truth over reality is shown through Lutz’s essay. General Li Zhiyun uses double-think when he states “There was no such thing as bloodshed on Tiananmen Square…” and later contradicts that with the statement, “If we didn’t use military force we couldn’t have cleared the Square”. William Lutz also writes “the testimony of our own eyes cannot and should not...
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...A recent essay written by Austin Harrington of “The Good Men Project” that was published by Business Insider examines the pitfalls of the justice system that led to Gerard Richardson’s wrongful conviction. Richardson spent 19 years in prison for the 1994 murder of Monica Reyes before DNA testing proved his innocence. He became a suspect after law enforcement learned that Reyes, who was addicted to heroin, had sold drugs for Richardson on a few occasions to support her habit and owed him approximately $90. Richardson’s conviction was based largely on the testimony of a forensic dentist who claimed that a bite mark on the victim’s body matched Richardson’s teeth. Harrington suggests that Richardson’s conviction is evidence of a failing justice system. He writes: We still have gaping holes in our structure that we euphemistically refer to as “cracks” where citizens fall through and have their lives and the lives of their loved ones destroyed. Very few people are arguing for change in our judicial process or the need for more compiling evidence before sentencing. We need to reevaluate the entire system before we send even one more person to prison with the question of undeniable guilt still unanswered. We as a society have executed the innocent, falsely imprisoned the righteous and damned the unworthy, without so much as a cry for a more precise system. Are we so in fear of our population that we would rather send an innocent man to prison than take the time necessary to...
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...Introspective Analysis: My Limited Writing Experience in a Nutshell I have never kept a journal or a diary. Writing things down never made me feel better so my first real experience in any type of writing was in school. Before then I had not given writing much thought. I read a lot of books, magazines and papers; how hard could it be? It wasn’t long before I had a real eye opening experience trying to write my first real formal paper. Writing has never been easy for me so when I started writing formal papers in college it was one of the more difficult assignments for me. In the first part of this essay, I will review my first experience in writing a formal college paper, how the Professor encouraged me to actually finish the paper, then in the second part of my paper I will describe my experiences with research and MLA formatting style. I will never forget my first college English Composition class. When I walked into the class it looked like any other classroom. People were sitting in what I was sure was their comfort spots in the classroom, some in front, some in back. I, of course, chose a middle seat. I pulled out the books and papers I needed for the class and sat quietly. When the Professor started the class we all signed in and of course, we had to write an introduction of ourselves to him. That seemed easy enough. I wrote it out and handed it in and was passed back a syllabus. The final draft of our first paper wasn’t even due for four weeks. At that time I never imagined...
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...sometimes be fundamental to determining an accused’s guilt, rendering his or her liberty, livelihood and reputation at stake. The law requires witnesses to give truthful evidence and encourages them to admit when they do not know or cannot remember the details of the event (Evidence Act of 2008). Witnesses rely on their memories to testify as to what they believe is a true account of the event. However, memories have been found to be fallible with no guarantee of corresponding with objective reality (Johnson, 2001). Research has found that false memories (FM), where a person recalls an event that did not occur and mistakes it to be a true representation of that event (Gleaves & Smith, 2004; Johnson, 2001) exists within the realm of eyewitness testimony (ET) (Loftus, Miller & Burns, 1978). This raises the issue of how well does ET reflect reality. Some theories that explain FM include the source monitoring failure theory (Johnson, Hastroudi & Lindsay, 1993), activation monitoring theory (Roediger, Balota &Watson, 2001) and fuzzy trace theory (Brianerd & Reyna, 1998; Reyna & Brainerd, 1995). Due to word count limitations, this paper will explore the concept of FM using fuzzy trace theory, source monitoring errors and the misinformation effect to explain how FM occurs in the context of ET and why ET can never the representation of the complete truth. The FTT proposes that there are two parallel memory traces, the verbatim trace and the gist trace (Brianerd & Reyna, 1998; Reyna...
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...ween Essays and Research Papers Not all writing assignments are created equal. We’re sure this is something that students around the world have discovered – the hard way. It almost seems purposefully unfair. One type of writing is difficult enough, but teachers want to throw all different writing brands, styles and formats into the mix. You’ve got APA paper, term papers, research papers, standard essays, reports, etc. Amidst all these writing assignments, two stand out as the most commonly assigned. Essays and research papers are, above all, the biggest and most common headache for students. However, understanding the crucial differences between these two assignments may help students to tackle them better in the future. What is an Essay? An essay is a simple composition with three basic parts: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. The introduction is the first sentence of the essay, and works to introduce the topic of the piece, as well as the writer’s response. An essay could centers around a) the writer’s response to a question, b) an examination of a topic, c) a reaction to a text or d) an opinion supported be evidence. The evidence provided in an essay can center around personal experiences or unbiased factual support. The conclusion of an essay works to sum up the writer’s major points, opinion or position. In essence, an essay is a composition used to examine a topic in a brief but detailed and organized way. Most essays only span a few pages, and some only...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY THE SYNOPTIC PROBLEM A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. CAROL A. THOMAS IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURST NBST 525 LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BY LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA , 2013 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 EXPLORATION OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS........................................................................1 ORAL THEORY.............................................................................................................................2 THE TWO-SOURCE HYPOTHESIS.............................................................................................3 THE GREISBACH HYPOSTHESIS..............................................................................................4 THE FARRER-GOULDER HYPOTHESIS...................................................................................5 THE AUGUSTINE HYPOSTHESIS..............................................................................................6 DEFENSE OF THE SYNOPTIC PROBLEM................................................................................6 CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................7 BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION At first, one reads the words “Synoptic Problem” and assumes the worst. The expression...
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...Essay Set 2 Prompt PHIL 240 B01 Professor: Harold Walker Deborah McFadden Date 03/07/2014 Describe the minimal approach to the resurrection question. Be sure in your answer to provide a general description and outline of this approach when applied to the resurrection of Christ. Do you agree or disagree with this approach According to out text the minimal approach considers only those data that are so strongly attested historically that they are granted by nearly every scholar who studies the subject, even the rather skeptical ones. This augment does not argue anything but the resurrection. It does not argue for the inerrancy of the word or the reliability of the Word or the one who wrote it. The author states, Minimal facts approach considers only two data that meet two criteria 1. The data are strongly evidenced. 2. The data are granted by virtually all scholars on the subject, even the skeptical ones The minimal fact approach to the resurrection question is. Jesus died by crucifixion It was reported in all four gospels that Jesus was executed by crucifixion. Even some none-Christian sources report the event as well such as historians as Josephus, Taticutus, Lucian, Talmud all agreed to Jesus death by crucifixion is a historical fact support by considerable evidence. Tacitus referred to it as “the extreme penalty”. Josephus writes when Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men...
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...civil litigations. Although the CSI effect may not be from a television show, it is enhanced by mass media and television programs. A trial attorney should go in the courtroom with skills to go against unrealistic expectations. (Dysart, 2012) No other forensic science technique has received as much attention as DNA analysis. To date, DNA has exonerated more than two-hundred people in the United States. These exonerations are a reminder that our system is flawed, and they have shed light on serious problems with the criminal justice system, including forensic science. While many assume that forensic science is a near-perfect tool for discovering the truth in criminal cases, a recent study found that false or misleading forensic expert testimony is a leading contributing factor in wrongful convictions.(Justice...
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...Jarrett Rowland English 108 “Research Essay 2 RD” MWSU-Dr. Heard 15 November 2010 Missouri Mountain Lions Return: Can the State Support A Breeding Population? One hot wildlife question being debated in coffee shops, sporting goods stores, and Internet chat sites across Missouri goes something like this: “Do we have mountain lions here or not?” The short answer is yes, sometimes. But we have far fewer than rumors would lead you to believe. What we do not have is any evidence of a viable, breeding population of mountain lions in Missouri. As a result, the Missouri Department of Conservation has changed the state classification of the species from endangered to extirpated. An extirpated species is one that is considered extinct as a viable breeding population from a portion of its historical range. The Conservation Commission has determined that, based on considerations of human safety and risk to livestock, it is undesirable to have a breeding population of mountain lions in Missouri. Therefore, the Department of Conservation will not encourage the species to reestablish itself in the state. Despite rumors, the Department has never stocked mountain lions and will not do so in the future. Although mountain lions, sometimes called cougars, pumas, panthers or catamounts, were common in Missouri and elsewhere in the Midwest prior to European settlement, they were eradicated during the 19th century. As the countryside was settled and developed, the large predators were shot....
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...They were shown a science demonstration throughout the day; later that day their parents read them a story, which contained aspects of the science demonstration. The next day, the children were questioned about the science demonstration and then were further asked to think about where they got their information from (source monitoring). Findings- It was found that the younger children were unable to source monitor as they could not identify where they learnt the information whereas the older children could. Conclusion- Poole and Lindsay concluded that the younger children are poorer eye witnesses than the older children as they are unable where they learnt the information. This means that they aren’t able to distinguish between original eyewitness memory and post event information. 2. What does this suggest about age and EWT? This suggests that age does affect EWT. 3. Explain why the story told at home could have been an extraneous variable… Interview bias (how the parents read the story) could have influenced the accuracy of the child’s response. The parents could have unintentionally prejudiced the child by how they read the story; techniques that could affect this could be their voice, their tone, or the time taken to read through the story. 4. How could this affect internal validity? This isn’t a controlled environment so this could have affected the results. 5. What ethical issues are there with Poole and Lindsay’s research? The research presents ethical...
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...BUS 3305 Unit 2 Week 2- Written Assignment: During this week’s written assignment, I will share three different scenarios. Then, I will discuss which of the three concepts: litigation, ADR, or criminal prosecution is the appropriate plan of action for the predescribed scenarios. I will also attempt to cite information from the textbook to support any of my positions. However, my personal preference is paraphrasing. Other requirements for this assignment will include to produce an essay of at least 1,500 words. This paper should be 12-point font size, Times New Roman font, and I am to include a list of any outside resources that I used during this assignment. Adele is a secretary for her company. As part of her responsibilities, she can...
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...Modernistic Views of the Nanjing Atrocity Introduction “Japanese people do not say something appropriate. When Iris Chang published her book ‘The Rape of Nanjing’ in 1997, an American ambassador gave explanation that Japanese is deeply repentant for accepting that they killed hundreds of thousands Chinese people. Did the Japanese representative really mean to take all criticisms without anything to say? Not only the representative of Japan but also we, the Japanese people, have a problem about explaining historical facts in foreign language especially in English. There are the facts, which are not yet lifting the veil in Japanese historical records. We should provide and send those in English translation.” Hiromichi Moteki, the Deputy Chairman for Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, has given a speech of the Nanjing Massacre history that it should be reexamined and proved there is no evidence that Japanese Imperial army killed 300,000 Nanjing people. Not only Moteki is trying to broaden the historical facts, but also many Japanese historical researchers delve into the matter. Even though Nazi Germany, where there were dreadful massacres during World War II and Millions of people were approached unwilling dead by hunger, heavy laboring, poison gas, human experimentations by soldiers and doctors, they are reexamining own responsibilities and investigates the atrocities without regard for any limitation. Unlike Germany under the Nazi political power, Nanjing incident...
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...The reliability and authenticity of the Bible The Bible claims to be the inspired word of God (2 Tim. 3:16, TEV). Yet much controversy and criticism exists over this book. If we are to accept and base our lives on the Bible as the word of God, then we need to have confidence in the reliability and the authenticity of the Bible. That is, we need to have confidence that the Bible is dependable and trustworthy and that what was written did happen. This essay outlines some convincing evidence to prove that this is the case. I will summarize and discuss bibliographical, external and internal evidence which confirms the reliability and authenticity of the bible. One of the first pieces of evidence lies in the uniformity of the message of the Bible. It is a collection of sixty-six books written over a period of approximately fifteen hundred years in three languages on three continents by forty authors. Kings, peasants, educated men, a doctor, a prime minister, a tax collector a rabbi, a fisherman are among the authors (McDowell, 1973). While it discusses numerous issues, and each book has different purposes, the overall themes of creation, the fall of man and redemption are clear throughout (Williams, 2002). Military historian Chauncy Sanders mentions three criteria scholars use in historiography (Williams, 2002). When applied to test whether the scriptures we have are the same as the original documents, that is to test their accuracy, these are manuscript evidence (textual)...
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