Faulty Eyewitness Testimony and its Impacts

The criminal justice system is constantly being reformed to meet the standards of society and safeguard the citizens of the United States. The court system has especially gone through revisions and reformations as the legislative branch of government continues to create policies and statutes that affect it. Within the court system, the jury is charged with defining the facts of each case and rendering a verdict based on the evidence displayed during the trial. The prosecution and the defense attorneys put on a spectacle for the jury within the confinements of the adversarial court system. The prosecution utilizes a “toolkit” in which the prosecutor uses an array of methods to attempt to convince the jury to render a guilty verdict. There are many factors used to persuade a jury. One such method is to use hard evidence found at the crime scene. Evidence such as blood, hair fibers, and fingerprints are valued by those on a jury panel.1 Another is to have witnesses and public officials called to the stand in court to talk about the defendant’s character and criminal history. One method that is frequently used which alters the jury from factfinder to empathetic justice seeker is when the prosecution uses the narrative of the victim or other eyewitnesses.2 Utilizing victim testimony or eyewitness testimony puts an emotional burden on the jury. Eyewitness testimony is a leading cause for convictions used by prosecutors in the United States, however, it is often unreliable due to misidentification.3