Since the discovery of DNA profiling in the mid 1980′s, there have been over 300 criminal exonerations in the USA alone. That’s over 300 innocent people imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. Studies in the USA have also shown that approximately 73% of these convictions incorporated eyewitness testimony as the primary piece of evidence in their respective cases. Continue reading
In 1984, Maryland USA, Kirk Bloodsworth was given the death penalty. His conviction was based solely on 5 eye-witnesses who all claimed to have seen him commit a horrific crime. After 9 years on death row, he was exonerated by DNA evidence. He was innocent. Continue reading
In this talk forensic neurophysiologist Scott Fraser discusses the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. He explains that we only encode and store bits and pieces of information, and that the brain fills in the gaps with data that was not originally collected. Fraser states that all our memories are reconstructions, and are influenced by inference, speculation and information gained after the observation.
“Look at me when I’m speaking to you!” a mother’s shrill voice was heard by all on aisle 9. Her snotty nosed offspring gathered his strength following the morning’s tantrum. With his head down he hardly eyeballed anything else but the floor. Continue reading
