Eyewitnesses and Testimonial Evidence

Testimonial evidence does NOT include which of the following?

• Written statements given to the police after an event

• Oral statements presented in a courtroom by eyewitnesses

• Written statements found by the police at a crime scene

• Oral statements given to the police after an event

Which of the following is true about eyewitness testimony

• It is highly reliable

• Many different factors can lead to inaccurate eyewitnesses

• It is easy to tell if an eyewitness is lying

• A confident eyewitness is more accurate than one who is not confident

CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY: Which of the following factors can IMPROVE eyewitness accuracy?

• Familiarity with the area

• Strong emotions such as fear or anger

• Age - being very young or elderly

• Finding the culprit to be highly unattractive

Over time, eyewitnesses who choose a suspect out of a lineup have _______ confidence about the choice they made, even if they were incorrect.

• Decreasing (less)

• the same amount of (equal

• Increasing (more)

When the suspect and the witness are from two different racial backgrounds, the eyewitness is ______ likely to misidentify the suspect.

• more

• less

• equally

The phenomenon of individuals thinking everyone of a particular racial group "looking the same" is known as ________

• racism

• the own-race effect

• the cross-race effect

• face blindness

CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY Which of the following would DECREASE how accurate an eyewitness identification is?

• Dark outside during the event

• Witness found the culprit highly attractive

• Witness was intoxicated during the event

• The culprit was wearing a hat and sunglasses

A person who has seen something at a crime scene and can communicate these facts is a?

• Court reproter

• Eyewitness

• Reporter

• Personal observer

Witness testimony should not be relied heavily on in a courtroom because it can be __________________.

• unfair since it is so accurate

• unimportant to the crime

• unreliable and inaccurate

• a distraction for the jurors

In cases that have been overturned by the Innocence Project, eyewitness testimony was incorrect __________ of the time.

• 98%

• 25%

• 87%

• 70%