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RESEARCH PAPER ONE
Research Paper: Eyewitness Identification and Testimony
Alexis Vick
Liberty University
CJUS 640
2/16/2024
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Abstract
The areas that tend to misidentify offenders by eyewitnesses and police officers will be discussed
in this essay. The mind is a very complex system, so it makes memory one as well. The duration
between the crime and the identification can create memories due to the details that are
generalized about the offenders. Emotional distress can change the psychology and physiology of
an individual. Examples of emotional distress are traumatic incidents regarding violent crimes.
Details can be distorted and hide secretions due to external influences. Examples of external
influences are low visibility. Low visibility can make it hard for witnesses to identify their
attacker. Witnesses can potentially choose the offender from the list due to social media. The
problems of systemic variables within the criminal justice system are stated in this essay.
Recommendations are given to solve the situation. One thing to help limit bias and influence
from higher-ups to bystanders is implementing double-blind testing. Flawed measures,
techniques, or witness statements regarding changes are measured through the right
documentation. Finally, the Biblical perspective addresses reforming the system's changeable
procedures and achieving a better relationship with God to further minimize misidentification.
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Research Paper: Eyewitness Identification and Testimony
Introduction
Eyewitnesses are individuals who were present during the crime. Eyewitnesses are very
important within the criminal justice system due to their help in investigations and prosecuting
individuals. Law enforcement and attorneys question eyewitnesses to create a lineup to make an
identification of the offender. Identifications made by eyewitnesses are known as reliable sources
for the jury.
Eyewitnesses are not always perfect, due to eyewitnesses potentially making errors due to
their memory. Memory can be changed by external sources, variables within the system, and sin.
Memory can be changed due to time, emotion, and suggestion so this causes it to be a complex
process. The accuracy of the identification process can be affected by co-witness statements,
visibility, and the distance of the crime scene. Along with the media exposure. Criminal justice
procedures can cause misidentification of the suspect. Examples of criminal justice procedures
are poor lineups, documentation, and biased administrators. Mistaken identifications are an area
of concern due to starting lapses of justice by putting innocent in jail causing it to be sinful.
Eyewitness Errors
The data from the Innocence Project said 75% of wrongly convicted individuals were
convicted by misidentification from the eyewitness (Cutler, 2015, p.8). This is because the
precautions taken by the criminal justice system are ineffective in ensuring that witnesses do not
make mistakes during the identification process. "After all, it is judges and juries that
accuse criminals, not eyewitnesses. The judicial system has in place various
safeguards designed to prevent mistaken identifications from becoming
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wrongful convictions. These safeguards, however, are not fully effective
(Cutler, 2015, p.9)." Eyewitnesses do not make misidentifications on purpose,
and they do not have any reason. Eyewitnesses identify the suspects due to
them thinking they are the right person. When misidentification occurs, it is
up to law enforcement and the court system to identify if an error was made
and implement procedures to reduce it (Wixted, Mickes, Clark, Gronlund, &
Roediger, 2015).
Memory
Factors have been found that increase eyewitness identification
mistakes. The eyewitnesses' memory is the first that catches many people's
attention. Recalling an event is harder than it seems. The brain uses specific
neurons to form memories causing this to be a complex network.
Time Duration
Memories can be distorted due to them being a complex circuitry.
Distortions can also occur because of the time that occurs from the actual
incident. "This is partly because over time memories typically become less episodic (highly
detailed and specific) and more semantic (broader and more generalized) as the information is
repeatedly retrieved and re-encoded in varying contexts (Lacy, & Stark, 2013)." Witnesses can
have difficulty remembering events or details if there is a long period between the incident and
the identifying process. One example is details about the offender's outfit or what he looks like
potentially could not have been recalled due to time.
High Stress and Trauma
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Some crimes could have violence. Some examples are murder, rape,
assault, and robbery. Due to violence, witnesses could have a lot of stress
and trauma. This can create psychological and physiological changes. When
you are stressed your body releases cortisol, too much exposure can affect
the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the reason for long-term memories
(Lampinen, Neuschatz, & Cling, 2012, p. 69). This can lead to memory problems in witnesses,
making them unable to accurately recall the suspect, greatly reducing the accuracy of
identification. Additionally, people who directly experience violent crime may be susceptible to
high or low levels of arousal. “At low levels of arousal, attention is dimmed, and relevant details
of the event are missed (Lampinen, Neuschatz, and Cling, 2012, p. 71).” High levels of arousal
may also cause the witness to become easily overwhelmed and similarly unable to concentrate on
the event.
False Memory
Due to certain conditions, it can cause memories to be changed. Examples of this are
emotions, perception, and time may cause false memories (Lacy & Stark, 2013). Reconstructing
an event requires enormous mental effort, and because it is so fragile, it can be influenced by
many of the variables mentioned above. Additionally, over time, they can also be suggested by
others, which can hinder the rebuilding process. For example, someone might say that the
attacker's eyes are blue instead of green. Over time, this main source of knowledge is lost and
then competing information replaces it. (Lacy and Stark, 2013).
External Factors
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Memory is not the only thing that helps the accuracy of the eyewitnesses’ ability to make
an identification. The visibility during the incident can affect the identification.
Media Exposure
Some cases receive more publicity than others. The reason this can be a problem is that
the media can affect the witness's statement. This becomes a problem when witnesses change
their statements to match what the media has stated (Harvard et al., 2021). The data that was
discovered in “Witness to Web Sleuth: Does Citizen Enquiry on Social Media Affect Formal
Eyewitness Identification Procedures?” showed that 76.2% were more likely to pick the suspect
out of a lineup if they saw them on the news. This is called the commitment effect according to
Harvard et al. 2021.
Co-witness Claims and Suggestibility
Suggestibility can also change the eyewitness's testimonies. "Crimes are frequently
witnessed by two or more people, and co-witnesses to crimes often discuss
the event shortly afterward. Many studies have shown that such discussions
can lead witnesses to integrate elements of a co-witness report into their
reports of the shared experience (Ito et al., 2019)." If there is not a clear
recollection of the events suggestibility is most likely to occur. This creates a
problem because false information can be created based on another
person’s perception. It is very common in children’s accounts. Children tend
to follow the adults around them (Ito et al., 2019).
Environment
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Many instances such as lighting can affect the eyewitness. The
eyewitness is the victim or bystander who was present during the incident
that is being investigated. Another thing to consider is the distance the
offender is from the victim. These instances can affect the accountability of
the statements given by the eyewitness. Depending on the distance depends
on the quality of the image depicted by the retina, this is called visual angle
(Nyman et al., 2019). Reconstructing an event requires enormous mental effort, and
because it is so fragile, it can be influenced by many of the variables mentioned above.
Additionally, over time, they can also be suggested by others, which can hinder the rebuilding
process.
Problems and Recommendations for System Variables
System variables are referred to as elements in the criminal justice system deployed in
law enforcement, such as identification techniques, lineups, photo arrays, and witness statement
records (Ito et al.). ‘‘When investigators probe the memories of witnesses, either through
identification procedures (identification tests) or through interviews (recall tests), the information
they receive can be very valuable. reliable if the following conditions are met: (a) the witness
was not previously exposed to distorted or contaminated information, (b) the witness`s memory
is probed for the first time, (c) the witness is not “the question”, (d) the witness's metacognitive
monitoring guides his or her response (either by withholding the response in case of uncertainty,
by making clear signal about their credibility) and (e) the investigator is sensitive to the witness's
credibility (i.e., relying on highly credible answers while discounting low-reliability statements)
(Wixted, Mickes & Fisher, 2018).
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Double-Blind Procedures
Although the criminal justice system can solve very few problems, police officers present
in the line-up or when shown to witnesses a series of photos of suspects may be more likely to
know who was more suspect (Bull Kovera & Evelo, 2020). Indeed, witnesses may be influenced
by the officer’s gestures and can select a suspect from the lineup based on their perception of
what they believe the officer knows. In addition, the police can manipulate their movements
because they have certain identification biases against the suspect, even if the suspect is
innocent. The blind officer or manager who revealed the photo to the victim or the person present
during the identification session did not know who the suspect was, so it is unlikely that this
investigator would unintentionally manipulate the victim to identify the suspect (Bull Kovera &
Evelo, 2020).
Composing the Lineup
Fillers are innocent individuals who serve in a police operation to test the memory of
witnesses to better identify suspects and determine whether they committed a crime. If the
witness fails to identify the suspect and chooses an additional solution or measure, the
investigator abandons that direction and may decide to take a different approach to the case. If
the fill-in-the-blank items do not match the suspect`s description or characteristics, the greater
the likelihood that the witness will be able to distinguish him.
Pictorial similarities.
There may be cases where a suspect`s photo unreasonably attracts attention. For example,
the suspect's photo may be larger or have a different color background than the rest of the photos
shown to the witness.
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Documentation
This way, if any discrepancies arise during the proceedings, such as conflicting testimony
from witness tracking, possibly poor instructional methods, or consistently faulty techniques As
far as the investigation is concerned, it will be easy to determine the exact details of what is not
doing.
Confident statements
Finally, the documentation process must also include immediately after the procedure is
performed and provide testimony from witnesses in their own words regarding the level of
confidence shown in their decisions to determine suspect identification (Wixted, Mickes &
Fisher, 2018). This way, investigators can be asked how the witness feels about their decision
and can have the reasoning behind the decision explained. This helps to better identify potential
deficiencies in the witness.
Main Topic Discussed from a Biblical Perspective
‘‘After the fall of Adam, we are in a condition where humans are born into sin, whether we know
it or not” (Bible Gateway, 2021). Misidentifying can be a sin because it punishes the innocent
and allows the wicked to commit crimes. However, suppose we put more faith in God Almighty
and build a better relationship with God by confessing the truth about the nature of our situation,
by repenting and praying. In that case, we can involuntarily be freed from the sins that inevitably
corrupt us and help us bring justice to the right culprit. New reforms we can make in our justice
system can prevent misidentifications and help guide witnesses and investigators because
anything good is like Christ.
Conclusion
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External influences such as high-profile crimes can reaffirm eyewitness perceptions, poor
visual conditions can limit a witness`s ability to accurately see details of a crime or suspect, and
interactions between witnesses. Recommendations include performing double-blind tests,
recording the entire procedure to see if there are any specific differences in witness statements
and identification techniques, and implementing subtle changes in identification to avoid
suspicious stereotypes. Finally, misidentification may be relevant to guilt because it may
misinterpret a witness's perception of the suspect's identity.
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References
Bible Gateway passage: Romans 12:2 - English Standard Version. (2021). Retrieved 23 April
2021, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans
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