Eyewitness Reliability

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that eyewitness testimony plays a vital role in the prosecution of crimes in the United States, as thousands and thousands of suspects face indictment based on eyewitness identification evidence each year. Yet, much of the information is considered faulty. This paper takes a look at the reliability of eyewitness witnesses. The writer examines the credibility of eyewitnesses and focuses on the reliability of eyewitness testimony in relation to cross-racial identifications. The writer maintains that if police do not keep witnesses away from news and other people's testimony, there is a greater chance that their memory will be altered. The writer concludes that memory is an ongoing process, not a static state and it is a process that never happens the same way twice.

Outline:
"Cross-Racial Identification of Defendants in Criminal Cases: A Proposed Model Jury Instruction."
"Eyewitness Memory in Context: Toward a Systematic Understanding of Eyewitness Evidence"
"Interviewing Witnesses: The Effect of Forced Confabulation on Event Memory"

From the Paper:

" In comparing these three articles, it can be said, overall, that eyewitness testimony is not reliable a lot of the time. There are so many variables that go into what we remember, and if we remember it correctly. The first article related to cross-racial eyewitness accounts can be compared to the second about eyewitness memory in context. The first article stated that research has shown it is more difficult for members of one race to accurately identify perpetrators of another race. The second article stated as well that so much of eyewitness testimony depends on factors that we cannot control - such as culture. This research leads us to believe that there is not much we can do to make eyewitness testimony reliable. When the credibility is related to factors outside of our control -such as gender, race, etc., this makes it nearly impossible to get an true testimony most of the time; of course, there could be exceptions to this."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aaronson, David E. 2008. "Cross-Racial Identification of Defendants in Criminal Cases: A Proposed Model Jury Instruction". Criminal Justice. Chicago: Spring 2008. Volume 23, Issue 1; pg. 4, 9.
• Buzzle. (2007-2008). "American justice in the 1800s". Retrieved from the web site: www.buzzle.com/articles/american-justice-in-the-1800s.html
• Miller, Binny. (2007). Director, Criminal Justice Clinic, Washington College of law. American University.
• Natarajan, Radha. (2003). "Racialized memory and reliability: Due process applied to cross-cultural eyewitness identifications". New York University Law Review. [Volume 78:1821].
• Pezdek, Kathy et al. (2007). "Interviewing witnesses: The effect of forced confabulation on event memory". American psychology law society/Division 41 of the American psychological association.

More papers on Eyewitness Reliability:

• Term Paper # 102504 : "Credibility of Eyewitness Testimony"
• Term Paper # 69003 : "Eyewitness Testimony"
• Persuasive Essay # 116315 : "The Reliability of Eyewitness Memory"

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