NCJ Number
99865
Date Published
1985
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Eyewitness testimony is discussed in terms of general issues of reliability, the ways that jurors evaluate it, and practical implications.
Abstract
Several known cases exist of wrongful convictions based on eyewitness testimony, which is considered direct evidence from a legal standpoint. Processes that occur at four stages determine the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. Three stages -- acquisition, encoding, and retrieval -are part of classical memory theory. The fourth stage is the communication of particular memories and is affected both by witnesses' confidence in their ability to identify someone from a lineup and by individual and situational factors. Although less research exists on jurors' reactions to eyewitness testimony than on accuracy, the available research points to several conclusions. The accuracy of eyewitness testimony does not relate clearly to jurors' tendency to believe it, but witness' confidence in the identification has a stronger effect. In addition, people do not understand the way many variables affect eyewitness accuracy. Courts need to improve instructions to jurors. Expert testimony on eyewitness accuracy is another possibility. A further approach would be to inform police agencies and police academies about the relationship between eyewitness accuracy and such variables as the lineup structure or the wording of questions to witnesses. The police would have an incentive to handle these factors properly if courts excluded eyewitness evidence obtained through poorly handled procedures. 67 references.