Eyewitness Testimony Flashcards
(63 cards)
Eyewitness testimony is an…
extremely powerful type of testimony
In cases with only eyewitness evidence against the defendant, juries vote to convict __% of the time
74%
Judges are supposed to assess the reliability of eyewitness on what 5 factors?
- Opportunity to observe
- Attention
- Accuracy of initial description
- Delay between crime and identification
- Confidence
5 factors to assess reliability: Opportunity to Observe
Did they get the chance to see what happened?
5 factors to assess reliability: Attention
o Did they see their face?
o Were they actually paying attention?
o Or did it occur In their peripheral vision?
5 factors to assess reliability: Accuracy
Do details of description match what the eyewitness reported?
5 factors to assess reliability: Delay between crime and identification
o How much time has elapsed between when they claimed to have seen this and the description they are giving now (details fade over time)
o Important to consider when it is all memory based
5 factors to assess reliability: Confidence
o Would trust a witness who has extreme confidence in what they are saying
o Important to jurors (almost always say they trust the testimony of eyewitness because they seemed so confident)
Statistics on percent of jurors voting “guilty” with eyewitness testimony
No eyewitness:
Credible eyewitness:
Discredited eyewitness:
No eyewitness: 13%
Credible eyewitness: 50%
Discredited eyewitness: 27%
What are the basic facts of the Ronald Cotton Case?
What was Contton’s sentence? What happened after 11 years? Who was the actual rapist?
1984
22-year-old victim raped at home in Burlington, NC
Jennifer Thompson expressed extreme confidence in being able to identify suspect
At the trial, victim pointed out Cotton, said she was completely certain
o Despite little physical evidence, inability of second victim to ID him, Cotton sentenced to life + 54 years in prison
o 11 years later, after appeal, retrial, 2nd conviction, Cotton exonerated by DNA
o Actual rapist was a prisoner, Bobby Poole, who confessed earlier
Eyewitness testimony - mistaken identity
What percent are wrongful convictions?
75%
Compared to other causes, how many are wrongful convictions?
More than all other causes combined
What is the average rate of correct suspect ID
42%
What are influences on the reliability of eyewitnesses?
Who is associated with this?
Estimator variables
System
Gary Wells
What are estimator variables? (7)
Vision
Opportunity
Lighting
Drugs
Duration of events
Time since events
Emotional state
Confidence of eyewitnesses:
o Expressed confidence at trial influences ______
o But not a good way to judge actual ___________ of recall (weak correlation)
o Over time, eyewitnesses become more _________, but their memory _____ over time
o The whole system of eyewitness stages is g_____ to make eyewitnesses more _________
o Expressed confidence at trial influences jurors
o But not a good way to judge actual reliability of recall (weak correlation)
o Over time, eyewitnesses become more confident, but their memory fades over time
o The whole system of eyewitness stages is geared to make eyewitnesses more confident
Increased confidence is linked to?
Rehearsal
Cognitive dissonance
Confirmations
What does rehearsal refer to? (3)
Review
Repeated interviews
Testimony
What does cognitive dissonance refer to?
The idea that people find it hard to hold two contradictory beliefs
To reduce this, we tend to change our beliefs about one of those things so it is more consistent
What does confirmation refer to?
Feedback
police officers will offer nonverbally that the witness is selecting the ‘correct’ person, give them positive feedback about their choice and “confirm” that the witness did the right thing
Confirmation makes eyewitness MUCH more _________ in aspects of c________, to t______, good view of s______, a________ to detail of face and had plenty of time.
confident
certainty
testify
suspect
attention
Eyewitness testimony - Selective Attention
What is it?
Problems due to nature of memory itself
Eyewitness testimony - Selective Attention
More likely to get stored as m______ when we are paying _________, only a fraction will get _______, or get stored in ____-____ memory
memories
attention
encoded
long-term
What is a factor affecting elective attention?
Distinctiveness
