...an eyewitness testimony. Twenty-two students watched a video of a crime individually or in pairs. The paired witnesses discussed the video with their co-witnesses. Yet, they had not known they had seen slightly different versions. Participants in that had pairs recalled less accurately than individual witnesses. In a cross-examination, there was no difference in accuracy between the two experimental groups. Thus, this experiment showed that the results demonstrated negative effects of cross-examination on the accuracy of adult eyewitness testimony. Likewise, as the third reason, some eyewitness testimonies lie to their advantage. For instance, Henry Drake was sentenced to death in 1977 for the murder of a 74-year old barber during a robbery in Georgia. Whether Drake was found guilty or innocent depended on an eyewitness testimony. The...
Words: 719 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 1278 - Pages: 6
...The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony SCI 110 Introduction to Physical Science Professor Pages 6 Abstract: Eyewitness testimony and its credibility has always been a staple of controversy in court cases. Let's take a minute to think back the last time you were in a local retail store. Now ask yourself, are you able to describe the person who was ahead of you in the line? How many details can you really remember about that person? Now how accurate do you think that your description was? Today we are going to investigate just how accurate people's observations are in everyday life. Objective: The purpose of this project today is to determine whether eyewitness account credible and reliable enough to be used as evidence in criminal investigations. We are going to do this by determining witness recollection, gender of suspect, distance away from suspect and date and time affect the accuracy of witness accounts. . Introduction: Eyewitness accounts are always under scrutiny whether in the courtroom, by police and even scientists. In most eyewitness identification the processes typically involve selecting an alleged perpetrator from a police lineup or sketches. After selecting a suspect a formal statement is using made confirming the identification of the subject. Usually the times in which you are asked to give a statement range anywhere from a day to a few days later. Within this time frame ,ask yourself how accurately are you able to recollect...
Words: 1173 - Pages: 5
...convictions are eyewitness misidentification, misleading/unreliable forensics, false confessions (coerced/intimidated), witness perjury, prosecutorial misconduct, insufficient lawyering, racism and implicit bias. Since the first DNA exoneration conviction in the United States case that...
Words: 1512 - Pages: 7
...In the article, Jury hears eyewitness testimony in Lillooet murder trial it mentions slightly about the Lillooet murder trial that is taking place in Kamloops Supreme Court. the article just briefly mentioned that it was a case where a Lillooet man named Jeffery Harris is being charged with second degree murder of a 64-year-old named Gary Mandseth. The main focus of this specific article is that the jury was finally able to hear the eyewitnesses give their testimonies about what happened the day of the murder. As we learned in class eyewitness testimonies are considered to be the most compelling evidence in the court. In this particular case two eye witnesses gave their testimonies on April 3rd of this year, one was Jennifer Saelens who was living in the same house as the victim back in 2015, and the second eyewitness was Leonard Isaac who was one of the officers that was tasked with responding to a foot pursuit of Mr. Harris. Jennifer’s account of what happened was detailed and accounted what was happening at the time of the crime, while Officer Isaac’s account...
Words: 598 - Pages: 3
...Study#3 Forensic Psychology: Information Recall / Eyewitness Testimony ABS200 Instructor Clark August 18, 2014 Ashford University Applied behavioral science can be defined as a science that bases its concepts on the observations and learnings of human behavior. Science itself is all observation and learning, we try and try experiments in order to come to one or several conclusions and we observe in order to discover new things. In order to understand behaviors and what causes people do to the things they do we must observe not only the person but their surroundings and daily habits in order to understand them. In behavioral science there are many different sub-sections that can vary from clinical to criminal. Within these different sections we learn by making observations not just of one person but of every person we come across in our work and therefore have to learn how to make treatments based on these observations. In criminal cases, most of the time we are analyzing not only why a person has committed the crime they have committed but what drove them to become the person that they are. In many cases there is a mental illness whether treated or untreated that can cause the person to become unbalanced and therefore dangerous. Other times it is caused by childhood events which cause mental trauma which causes the person to act out in a certain manner. Cognitive psychology goes hand in hand with handling eye-witness testimony. With this type of psychology we use different...
Words: 2731 - Pages: 11
...were given thirty seconds to consider each question and write their answers, along with their degree of confidence in each one. This short, informal study (and the unreliable and inconsistent answers which it produced) became one of the very first on the psychology of testimony, and inspired one of the most significant studies in the history of forensic psychology. Fascinated by Cattell’s findings, psychologist Louis William Stern - along with the help of criminologist F.V. Liszt - attempted to bring Cattell’s design to life by conducting a staged quarrel within the walls...
Words: 733 - Pages: 3
...Discussion Questions: Position Error 1. Many people report that it is easier to recall the number sequences for the early trials of the experiment as compared to the trials that occur toward the end of the experiment. Why do you think this might be the case? In the early trials of the experiment, the minds of the participants are fresh and free of clutter and distraction. However, as the experiment wears on, the participants find themselves becoming distracted, as well as unable to recall information because of the previous sequences that are obscuring their minds. For example, if the participant has already seen and memorized 15 other positions, they may find it difficult to absorb additional positions that are being presented later on in the experiments. Boredom and distraction due to the repetition of the trials may also contribute to the difficulty in remembering positions towards the end of the experiment. Levels of Processing 1. Describe a situation in which a shallow level of processing might be preferred over a deeper...
Words: 773 - Pages: 4
...without hesitation. Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laënnec invented the stethoscope in 1816, Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawn mower in 1830, Jacob Perkins invented the refrigerator in 1834, and a host of other inventions have occurred since the beginning of time. Who can actually prove that the data provided in relation to these inventions was accurately recorded? So why is it so hard to believe that Jesus Christ, the son of God existed? One explanation could be that people fear what they don’t understand? The acts performed by Jesus Christ were “divine” this concept is something that non-believers do not understand. Although Christianity is the only religion that is historically based, there are several forms of evidence that prove Jesus was indeed a real historical person (Hewer). Based on the Eyewitness Evidence, the documentary Evidence, the Corroborating Evidence, and the Circumstantial Evidence found in the Case for Christ and from a few other sources, I believe that Jesus was a “real” historical person. The Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all primary or secondary accounts of eyewitness evidence supporting the existence of Jesus Christ. The accounts of the divine works of Jesus Christ were provided by men whom were respected and considered by many to be of good...
Words: 1515 - Pages: 7
...Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose Structure, Language and Genre Structure • Twelve Angry Men follows a two-act structure, with the action running continuously rather than being broken into scenes. The second acts takes up exactly where the first left off – there is no change in chronology. • With no scene divisions, the progress of the play can be measured by the votes which take place, functioning as a kind of pulse, reminding the audience where the jury’s opinion stands on the defendant’s conviction. These moments serve as markers for the audience on the journey through the play, helping to structure the action. • The play follows the three classical unities of theatre derived from Aristotle: - Unity of action: there should be only one central plot (the jury’s deliberations and decisions). - Unity of time: In real and continuous time where there are no shifts in chronology (no breaks in play). - Unity of place: Action occurs in only one single location (the jury room). • Allows the audience to feel very close to characters, their relationships and the conflict and challenges with which they are faced in deciding the defendant’s fate. • Intensifies sense of realism and is particularly effective because of the claustrophobic nature of the setting. Language • Rose’s characters use naturalistic, everyday language appropriate to the times and for the audience. • Heightened poetic or symbolic language is rarely used, instead speaking in concrete terms about the...
Words: 8042 - Pages: 33
...three videos. The three videos were the same, with the exception of an object being manipulated. Conclusions were based on how much detail participants were able to recall about the target. Older adults remembered fewer details about the target’s appearance than children and young adults. The results suggest that older adults would take longer focusing on an object that is out of context, therefore, not focusing on the perpetrator, resulting in fewer details remembered. Eyewitness and the Weapon Focus Effect in children compared to the elderly Many people have been convicted of crimes that they did not commit. Eyewitness testimony is one of the major causes for these wrong convictions. At least 75% of wrongful convictions are the result of inaccurate eyewitness identification (Innocent Project, 2009). Before the public became aware of the large amount of wrongful convictions, psychology researchers were already aware of the problem of memory and eyewitness testimony (Douglas, & Steblay, 2006). DNA testing has helped innocent people that have been convicted, proved their innocence and at the same time it has helped proved what researchers have claim for at least 30, years (Innocence Project, 2009). Eyewitnesses play a very important role in the criminal justice process....
Words: 5169 - Pages: 21
...Ushahidi's rugged BRCK, 'the backup generator for the internet' Author: Ian Steadman Date of publication 13th May 2013 Reference: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/13/brck SUMMARY OF ARTICLE "Ushahidi", which means "testimony" in Swahili, was a website that was initially developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election fallout at the beginning of 2008. Since then, the name "Ushahidi" has come to represent the people behind the;"Ushahidi Platform" (Ushahidi, 2013).Ushahidi’s motto is 'if it works in Africa, it will work anywhere'." Ushahidi is a powerful platform for crowdsourcing data in less than ideal conditions, be they because of a natural disaster or simply because of a lack of infrastructure. It's been used effectively, for example, in the aftermath of the disputed 2007 Kenyan elections, the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, generating maps for the emergency services and documenting eyewitness testimonies. The kind of rugged environments that Ushahidi was created for are also the kinds of places where web access can be decidedly unreliable at best. That's why Ushahidi has developed BRCK. (Steadman, 2013) BRCK is a wireless, battery-powered modem that aims to help users connect to the web no matter where they are in the world.The Brck device works with unreliable power and unreliable Internet to provide connectivity to entire villages. (Scaturro, 2013) Described as "the backup generator for the internet"...
Words: 1150 - Pages: 5
...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...
Words: 1857 - Pages: 8
...Missouri. He also earned a Master of Studies in Law Degree in 1979 from Yale. Washington Post has referred to him as the evangelical communities most popular apologists. The Case for Christ captures your attention and holds it from page one. It has a very interesting and easy writing style in which Strobel writes in first person. He uses his investigative reporter background to shape the way this book is set up. He proves that Jesus really is the son of God, using a sequence of interviews with 13 well respected Evangelical apologists. The book begins by Strobel using five lines of evidence: eyewitness, documentary, corroborating, scientific and rebuttal. Craig Bloomberg, PhD; whose doctorate is in New Testament, is the first to be interviewed. Bloomberg alleges that Papias and Irenaeus confirmed that the four gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John making them eyewitness testimony. He goes on to dismiss the Gospel Q hypothesis saying it is “nothing more than a hypothesis.” (p. 26) He explains that Q was a collection of sayings or teachings so that Matthew could use Mark’s account of events which he got from Peter that was so close to Jesus. This went along with his independent account. Strobel explains the differences in John’s gospel. He says that John is independent of the other three gospels, which explains a lot of the differences. He blames the translation of Greek...
Words: 2054 - Pages: 9
...statements. The FBI and the CIA were persuaded to release more of their documents on Oswald. New lines of inquiry were opened and individuals who had not previously given evidence were persuaded to come forward. Most important of all, pieces of evidence such as photos and sound recordings were subjected to scientific analysis using the most up-to-date methods and equipment. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) completed their investigation in 1979 and they finally came to a discrete verdict that Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots at Kennedy, one of which killed the president. The fourth shot was fired from the grassy knoll. They concluded that John Kennedy was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. There are many reasons why the HSCA came to this verdict, but firstly it...
Words: 3203 - Pages: 13
