As society becomes increasingly more diverse culturally and linguistically, translated testimony will become a more frequent component of the American justice system. Due to the complex nature of the translation process, errors and misunderstandings of interpreted testimony are nearly unavoidable and can affect jurors’ perceptions of a trial. Misjudgments may occur due to the inadvertent
Children may experience or witness crime and may need to provide reports to authorities. Children’s eyewitness accounts can contain critical information about serious acts such as murder, domestic violence, kidnapping, and assault. Child sexual abuse is particularly likely to bring children into contact with the criminal justice system because the case may boil down to
When children are involved in trials as witnesses, victims, or defendants, jurors must decide whether they are credible and how to weigh their testimony in reaching a verdict. Thus, although much psychological research focuses on the actual accuracy of children’s eyewitness testimony, it is also important to consider their perceived accuracy. Research reveals that jurors
The rules of evidence regarding the admissibility of hearsay testimony are complex, but in general, the law treats hearsay as inadmissible evidence. A number of exceptions to this general rule exist, however, and psychologists have conducted research to examine how jurors evaluate and use hearsay testimony in their decision making. No simple conclusions can be
Under the Federal Rules of Evidence and virtually all state codes, expertise is defined by the nature and scope of the proffered opinion. The basic issue with regard to a qualifications assessment is whether the witness has the background to support his or her intended testimony. An expert must be qualified to “assist the trier
Across many topics, eyewitness testimony remains a vivacious research area. The American Psychology-Law Society lists more than 1,400 references on the topic from 1883 and 2006. Eyewitness testimony research established roots as a research area in psychology over 100 years ago in Germany. There existed a strong German interest in eyewitness testimony (Sporer, 2006), and
Eyewitness testimony refers to the report of an event provided by someone who observed this event and often involves the recollection of details surrounding a witnessed crime as well as identification of participating offenders. Frequently, eyewitness testimony is the most compelling source of evidence in criminal trials and may be the only evidentiary support that
Many people have seen an ‘‘expert witness’’ in a courtroom or at the scene of a crime on a variety of television shows. These popular shows depict a highly educated and sophisticated expert with several degrees, including a Ph.D., who has all the answers. These shows portray both the reality and the fantasy of expert
Across many topics, eyewitness testimony remains a vivacious research area. The American Psychology-Law Society lists more than 1,400 references on the topic from 1883 and 2006. Eyewitness testimony research established roots as a research area in psychology over 100 years ago in Germany. There existed a strong German interest in eyewitness testimony (Sporer, 2006), and
Every year in North America at least 75,000 people are identified from police lineups and subsequently prosecuted. There are hundreds of documented cases in which mistaken eyewitness identification has led to false imprisonment. Although it is impossible to know how often eyewitnesses make mistakes, it is known that mistakes are made. For example, of approximately