Abstract:
Eyewitness misidentification is the most common contributing factor to wrongful convictions in the United States, with eyewitness error playing a role in over 70% of the nation’s DNA exoneration cases. Therefore, it is extremely important that those working in the criminal justice system understand the factors that contribute to the mistakes eyewitnesses make and learn whether those errors can be prevented. Even more importantly, if law enforcement is not able to eliminate or prevent all errors, attorneys, judges, and jurors need to understand whether they have the ability to reliably distinguish between accurate and inaccurate eyewitness decisions. The goal of this Essay is to attempt to provide answers to these important issues from a scientific (psychological) perspective.
