EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY AND MEMORY

Question 1

What is the definition of an eyewitness testimony?

Answer 1

Evidence given under oath in a court of law by an individual who claims to have witnessed the facts under dispute.

Question 2

What % of wrongful convictions are a result of an inaccurate eye witness testimony? (USA)

Answer 2

69%

Question 3

What % of wrongful convictions involve inaccurate eye witness testimony? (UK)

Answer 3

75%

Question 4

What problems do wrongful convictions involve inaccurate eyewitness testimony cause for society?

Answer 4

• Mistrust in the police and legal system
• Expensive for UK tax payers (money could go someone else)
• Real Perpetrator could commit other crimes (unsafe society)

Question 5

What is the key question for the cognitive approach?

Answer 5

Is eye-witness testimony too unreliable to be used in court as evidence?

Question 6

Describe the computer analogy

Answer 6

Information gets inputted (sensory memory) and processed (working memory) then the information gets outputted (a response to the stimuli) afterwards the info could be put into hard drive storage (LTM)

Question 7

How much can it cost per case in compensation for a wrongful conviction?

Answer 7

£1 million

Question 8

How much does it cost a UK tax payer per prisoner annually?

Answer 8

at least £35,000

Question 9

3 case studies impacted by a wrongful conviction?

Answer 9

Ronald Cotton, Steve Titus, William Mills

Question 10

How can these cases affect the wrongfully convicted?

Answer 10

Discrimination, relationship and familial damage, lost time, stress, mental health issues, issues within prison etc

Question 11

Why is this topic socially sensitive research?

Answer 11

Potentially overturning convictions of crimes that have some significant damage to victims

Question 12

Ronald Cotton Case study

Answer 12

• Jennifer was a rape victim
• They used an identikit to identify the suspect
• She was shown images of potential suspects and picked out Ronald Cotton as the perpetrator of the crime
• Ronald was convicted and later for a 2nd rape aswell
• In prison Bobby Poole was boasting about another man serving time for a tape he committed
• 10 years later he was exonerated
  ( Bobby Poole committed other rapes prior to being put in prison )

Question 13

Steve Titus Case Study

Answer 13

• Police misidentified his car as the car of a rapist (earlier that night)
• He was taken into the police station when the victim said he “looked most like the man” who had raped her
• In court she told the jury she was certain it was him + he was convicted
• He fought his conviction and eventually was recognised by a journalist who tracked down the real perpetrator
• His conviction was overturned
  (Steve lost his job, fiancé, savings, and eventually his life due to a stress related heart attack