A 2009 study by Mcquiston-Surrett and Saks looked at how forensic evidence is presented, rather than the actual evidence. How evidence is presented can have a large impact on how the jury feels about the evidence. There were 425 participants in this study, which included 128 judges and the rest jurors (Mcquiston-Surrett & Saks, 2009). Forensic experts gave different versions of the same hair comparison evidence in a murder trial and then they compared the outcomes of each version. The expert would switch things up like offering his own opinion in this testimony to saying that the hair was an exact match with the defendant’s hair. The participants were then given a survey asking questions about what they believed to be true regarding this mock …show more content…
The scenario consisted of a prosecution witness presenting microscopic hair comparison evidence and making it sound like it is very reliable without stating its limitations and subjectivity. There was also testimony from a defense expert and instructions from the judge stating the limitations of hair comparison evidence (Eastwood & Caldwell 2015). Some of the mock jurors received instructions from the judge on hair comparison limitations and some did not. The results showed that the mock jurors’ decisions were not affected much by judicial instructions, but they were affected by mock jurors who received instructions from an expert witness (Eastwood & Caldwell, 2015). There were fewer guilty verdicts from the mock jurors who received instructions from an expert witness than those who did not receive instructions on limitations (Eastwood & Caldwell, 2015). This study shows us that expert witnesses have a tremendous impact on what the jurors decide in a criminal trial. (Eastwood & Caldwell, 2015) In many cases, the expert witness is deemed credible just by being called an expert witness by the courts. This study had some limitations. The mock trial only used one type of forensic evidence and the participants were all freshman college students, …show more content…
There were seventy-two students that watched a clip of a bank robbery where a little boy was shot and killed (Whitehouse et al., 2005). These participants were interviewed about a week later and asked about what they remembered from the video (Whitehouse et al., 2005). Afterwards, some of the students were randomly selected to go through forensic hypnosis (Whitehouse et al., 2005) Eyewitness testimony has a large impact on criminal court cases and many people have been looking for ways to help witnesses remember more from crime scenes (Whitehouse et al., 2005). This study found that cognitive interviews were just as effective as forensic hypnosis, if not slightly more effective (Whitehouse et al., 2005). Research on these types of methods is subjective, which makes it hard for law enforcement agencies to adopt the use of them (Whitehouse et al.,
First, this ideology that hypnosis leads participants to have heightened confidence levels in their memory recall can result in a testimony that can sway a jury and possibly lead to the false incarceration of an innocent person. Second, the research that was conducted also concludes that hypnosis does not improve memory; people in a hypnotic state are as likely to incorporate irrelevant information into their testimonies as regular people are. This makes the recall elicited under hypnosis as reliable as the memory produced regularly. Accuracy levels among the memories recalled in the studies signify that memories recalled under hypnosis are no more accurate than the memories of a regular eye-witness. With regards to the case, the testimony provided by Mrs. Walter should be deemed inadmissible because any information provided to the court through the use of hypnosis should be disregarded, as it does not add any value to the memory Mrs. Walter is trying to
A reasonable jury when faced with the evidence would find it difficult to render a verdict beyond a reasonable doubt favorable to the State. Clayton, 235 S.W.3d at 778
Arguments: The State argues that “proffered evidence” of Dr. Kuris’ expert testimony is irrelevant because Cavallo may have committed rape on this specific encounter regardless if he does not possess rapist characteristics. The defendants argue that the reliability of scientific expert testimony should determine the importance, not admissibility. Issue: Whether, (1) Dr. Kuris’ expert testimony is relevant as an expert opinion evidence of Cavallo’s character under the ruling of Rule 47? (2) Did Dr. Kuris’ expert testimony satisfy the special limitations on expert evidence under the ruling of Rule 56 (2) and New Jersey case law? (3) Did Dr. Kuris’ expert testimony achieve general acceptance in the scientific community to convince the court that it is reasonably
v Lavallee (1990), expert testimony is admissible if the evidence is relevant to the case, even if it is based on hearsay. Though the appellant did not testify, rule 804 of the Federal Rules of Evidence allows hearsay statements to be considered in the event that the appellant refuses to testify (Matson, 2004). The hearsay evidence assists the expert in determining their opinion, but it is not used as evidence to the existence of the facts. As long as there is some admissible evidence to the expert’s testimony, the jury or judge cannot ignore it – the greater matter is determining how much weight should be given to the testimony. The judge is required to warn the jury of the reliability and credibility of the information, and to determine a weight at which the jury should use to influence their decision regarding the case (Ottawa L. Rev.,
The possible biases in jury decision-making will be discussed, including those related to having a celebrity on trial. In addition, this paper will examine the taboo nature of sexual assault cases, the problems that often arise in such cases, and the psychological toll on the victim. One issue with this case is the prosecution’s lack forensic evidence. In a “he said, she said” case that lacks the evidence that jurors expect in order to make their decision, it comes down to whether they believe the defendant or the prosecution. When DNA is not available, other types of physical evidence are examined (LaPorte, G., Nguyen, M., Schwarting, D., Scott, F., Waltke, H., Weiss, D., 2017).
A mental health expert in a criminal trial may offer an opinion on the ultimate legal issue of whether the defendant did or did not have a mental state or condition that constitutes an element of the crime charged or of a defense PA rules of evidence adopted the FRE 704(A) which states that an opinion is not objectionable just because it embraces an ultimate issue. (704(a)). PA rules of evidence does not adopt FRE 704B. However, PA courts have ruled that expert testimony, which concerns a defendant's mental capacity to form the type of specific intent a conviction for murder of the first degree requires, significantly advance the inquiry as to the presence or absence of an essential element of the crime, resulting in relevant testimony. (Commonwealth v. Walzack). In this criminal case a mental health expert is prepared to offer an opinion on the whether the defendant was insane at the time of the offense.
Eroy Brown was a convicted murderer who faced several trials throughout his life. The outcome of his trials was influenced by several factors, including the evidence presented in court, the jurors’ biases, and the actions of the prosecution and defense. One of the most significant factors that influenced the outcome of Eroy Brown’s trials was the evidence presented in court. In some cases, the evidence was conclusive and left no doubt as to Brown’s guilt or innocence. For example, in one of his trials, Brown was convicted of murdering a fellow inmate based on eyewitness testimony and physical evidence found at the scene of the crime.
For Instance, the cartoon in document E illistates a man saying, “we, the jury, find the defendant to be as guilty as he looks.” (Document E). This indicates that lawfully uneducated people don’t understand how to choose a verdict based upon the facts. They will use their biased opinion for evidence. Another piece of evidence lies in cartoon 1, where most of the jurors are unfocused from the trial, while others simply do not care (Document E).
She urges jurors to remain skeptical of eyewitness identifications of defendants, and demonstrates how mistakes have been made. This book is built around descriptions of cases in which Loftus has been involved as an expert witness for the defense. The book begins with a brief description
This week’s topic was very interesting to learn about how important eyewitnesses can be when a crime and accidents do occur. In the case that was presented in the 60-minute segment of Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson is exactly how legal system can fail us when it comes to the eyewitnesses’ identification testimony and how a person’s perception and memory can be altered. The aspect of psychology and law research from this week’s course material is most relevant to the topic of perception and memory. The memory has different stages the first is encoding the process of entering perception into memory.
The definition of an expert is someone who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge in a particular area. What the experts said against the accused in these cases should not have been used as evidence because they were not truly experts in their field. Both cases left reasonable doubt that the accused did not commit the crimes they were accused of, and the courts in both cases still found the accused guilty of the crimes they were accused
This may cause the jury to be indecisive between what the actual case and what the media portrays it to be. The amount of media released for cases creates a negative impact within the courts and makes it difficult for a fair trial. When juries are uncertain about a case or a suspect, they result to social media platforms and news coverage that will provide them with more information and depth into the case. ‘’But if the case unfolds in the media, by the time a case gets to court, the supposedly impartial jury (or even the judge) may have already heard information and allegations (not admissible by court standards) that have caused them to seriously prejudice the parties’’. (Nedim, 2014).
Under the modified Daubert standard, relevant scientific evidence is only admissible if it is centered upon testable hypotheses, conforms with the standard rate of potential errors, has been peer reviewed, and if the method is generally accepted in the scientific community (Hoog, 2008). However, there are three problems with the application of the Daubert standard. Firstly, David E. Bernstein and Jeffrey D. Jackson (2004) proved that there was no uniformity in the application of the standard in the sense that it’s only abided with in a portion of the states, and not necessarily with full adherence. Secondly, since the judge is not a scientist, it is difficult for him/her to, without doubt, determine the full honesty of the experts’ testimonies. An example from the Willingham case would be the two medical experts asserting that he was a sociopath although one was an irrelevant family counselor and the other, known as “Dr. Death” and later expelled from the American Psychiatric Association for ethical violations, had not even spoken to Todd Willingham.
In order to more fully understand this myth, it is important to consider which demographics believe in it and what exactly they believe. 70% of introductory psychology students (92 surveyed) believed that hypnosis would be useful in helping witnesses to recall details of crimes (Lilienfeld et al. 70). Approximately 90% of college students say that hypnosis helps with memory retrieval (Lilienfeld et al. 70). 84% of psychologists believe that memories are stored in the mind
This is an important element when deciding who the best and worst jurors were. There were no facts as to who was right or wrong because we didn’t see the crime in question. All