how accurate is an eyewitness?

Question

is an eyewitness important to the police an what are yhe limitations of an eyewitness

Answer 1

An eyewitness says whatever he/she wants to say, but who is going to say otherwise?..☺

Answer 2

Eyewitnesses are important, but not very accurate.
Based on eyesight, amount of attention given to the situation, etc. you may get a different story from every person that witnessed the crime. And if they are called to testify, what the ADA usually does is go over the original statement with the witness before the trial date to be sure that they are still familiar with the event and make sure that is still what they plan to say.
Usually what police detectives look for is a common thread in the occurrence. If there are 3 people that saw the suspect all do the same thing - i.e. point a gun at the victim, but they differ on where the suspect was standing or what words were said, then the common thread is the gun was pointed at the victim.
If the defense attorney is doing their job, they will work on those differences in the eye witness acounts to try to create "reasonable doubt" in the minds of the jury, if the case actually makes it to trial.

Answer 3

Yes they are important, sometimes vital if they are the only one who can give a detailed account of what happened. As for the limitations, I guess that would depend on who the eyewitness is. A young child or a troublesome teen might not be the best eyewitness for police, but an older person, with a respectable job etc, would be more ideal.

Answer 4

I remember in pshycology 101 that 4 eyewitness to a crime had 4 different descriptions of one assailant. It stated that the fear of the weapon made most of them look at the weapon more than the assailant. So, u figure, eyewitnesses are good but do make errors. And, over time, if the assailant is not caught immediately, the person may forget certain things or talk about it so much that they add or delete important items over time and by the time they make it to court...well, there's always holes.

Answer 5

Very important to the police but they are notoriously bad at being completely accurate, this is why just one witness is not usually enough for a conviction. You need other evidence to tie them into the crime as well, but the eye witness is often the person who leads the police to the place to look for the other evidence,

So while not always accurate they can be critical in building a case

Answer 6

from a psychologists point of veiw (ie me whos done it for four years and about to do another four years...)

eye witnesses are not always acceptble...

here are a few cases for you to look at if you want more information and il let you make up your mind...

http://www.s-cool.co.uk/topic_quicklearn.asp?loc=ql&topic_id=9&quicklearn_id=6&subject_id=14&ebt=260&ebn=&ebs=&ebl=&elc=13

this has A level stuff so you should be able to work our way through it with ease...

further reading is advised...

hope it helps!

x

P.S -grill- different people have different memory spans and detail so no, eye witnesses is not a good source and should not be used as sole evidence in a case...ever heard of eyewitness intimidation?

Answer 7

that is quite precise. maximum convictions ensue from eye witness testimony and that they are in lots of situations in no way overturned. that is maximum precise extraordinary after the incident. Time corrupts testimony. reliable thoughts can intrude with perceptions and memory besides. frightening issues look greater suitable, like on Gator Boys whilst the guy says he observed a 12 foot gator that seems to be 6 ft long. Or the robber replaced into suggested to be 6 ft tall yet became out to be 5 6", or it replaced right into a great gun yet genuinely replaced right into a 22 pistol. those issues are trouble-free.

Answer 8

I don't know but can never work out how someone can be 100% accurate 6 months after the event. For example reconstructions on Crime Watch - how can anyone remember what they might have seen that long ago. I don't even remember what I saw or might have seen on the way home yesterday?

Answer 9

Please refer to R V Turnbull an eyewitness is not necessarily reliable and several points have to be considered if he evidence of an individual is to be considered as reliable.
e.g lighting, obstructions, proximity to offender, whether known to witness or not, wears specs, length of time seen etc.

Answer 10

independent witness are very important part of the investigation to the police. don't listen to the f**kwits above. As long as the police officer is able to establish that the witness is telling the truth and the statement is taken using R v TURNBULL the court will love it and will add much more weight.