Eyewitness Identification

Essay # 58651

Criminology > Criminal Justice and Corrections
Law > Historic Trials
Psychology > Social

This paper discusses the problems of eyewitness identification.

1,123 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in general, eyewitnesses are less accurate because the eyewitness can make mistakes from the time a crime occurs, through the investigation, during lineup identification, and even on the witness stand. The author points out examples in which eyewitness identification was racially biased. The paper concludes that, although racial bias can interfere with eyewitness identification, there are circumstances in which it does not; therefore, it is important that eyewitness testimony not be stricken from the courtroom, but the procedures by which it is permissible ought to be made more stringent.

From the Paper:

"Mistaken identification can help to put innocent people in prison. In a 2000 study of seventy-four wrongful conviction cases, 81 percent were due (at least in part) to mistaken identification. Mistaken identification can be caused by the factors discussed in the preceding paragraph, but it can also be caused by cross-racial identification. This problem is called "racial skew". Racial skew was the cause of the wrongful conviction of Johnny Frederick and David Keaton in Florida in 1971."