Our police, the judicial system and attorneys must take this
into account:
Eyewitness testimony isn't always accurate.
Just for the record: I’m in favor of putting criminals in
jail—violent criminals should be in jail for a long time.
Still, “innocent until proven guilty” is a real good bedrock
for our legal system.
Here’s the new thing: research by the University of Michigan
Law School shows that eyewitness testimony may not be accurate—far too often. A
lot of folks don’t remember right when they report their eyewitness accounts,
and, for many folks, memory can be altered by subtle and not so subtle
influences.
For instance, in the last 25 years, DNA testing has proved
that more than 1,400 people were wrongly convicted of serious crimes.
Faulty eyewitness testimony was a substantial basis for 72%
of those convictions.
The witness said “I saw him do it,” but it turns out he
didn’t do it.
Every cop, lawyer, judge and jury member should be paying
attention here.
Check out The Innocence Project here.
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2015
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