Eyewitness Identification

Eyewitness Identification
AS I am sure you are aware the least reliable /mitigating testomony in a court case is that of of the “Eye-Witness” :WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS I

Reading Assignments for
Eyewitness Identification

I. INTERDISCIPLINARY READING

1. For an understanding of how memory works and some of the factors that cause fallibility of eyewitness identifications, read the following article:

Turtle, Lindsay and Wells, Best Practices for Eyewitness Evidence Procedures: New Ideas for the Oldest Way to Solve a Case (2003)

1.

However having been trained in cognitive theory/interviewing a savvy Investigator ,Police/Correction officer can ellict a quality & accurate response based on eliciting the proper /correct personal human emotion during the interview/interrogation process ( Some years ago I was sent by the D.O.C. to a managership based on this process) Which I found to be a very pragmatic & logical methodology for eliciting true & accurate factual statements from witnesses,victimems & suspects! basically we as humans tend to be ! thought/opinion driven or Felling/emotionally driven (There are a couple of sub categories from both , but the basic premise is based upon gearing your questions & deriving their testimony from their initial response from your questions :I may ask what did you think when you say the suspect? what brought them to your attention?? the witness may seem un sure or perplexed…Change the line of questioning to: How did you feel when you first noticed the suspect? Was there something in his ,demeanor ,look or dress that made you feel suspicious?,what? Why? Of course this is a very basic adaptation & it boils down to emotions & convictions & getting into peoples heads!!& it is not as definitive as what this study is portraying ,but the fact of the matter it does produce some tangible results!! well that’s my feeling and I’m sticking to it!! Not for nothin the next time you ask a co worker who they “think” is going to win next weeks case of the week & they scratch their head..Ask how they ‘feel” about a verdict!!