Remember These Words '''

1
Remember These Words ...
bed tired snooze blanket night pillow snore she
et dark
2
Now, write down all the words From the list that
you can remember.
3
1996 NIJ Study

• Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science
  (Conners,
• Lundregan, Miller McEwan, 1996)
• Examined 28 defendants exonerated by DNA
  evidence
• 5 cases did not involve eyewitness evidence
• 23 cases involved positive identifications
• 5 cases suspect ID-ed by name
• 3 cases witnesses placed defendant at scene or
  with victim
• 3 cases defendant was framed or victim recanted
• 2 cases involved Fred Zain
• 10 defendants positively ID-ed as culprit by
  witnesses
• Subsequent to the NIJ report, more persons have
  been exonerated based on DNA evidence.

4
NIJ DNA Conclusions

• Study Conclusions
• Miscarriages of justice can and do occur.
• Eyewitnesses can be wrong.
• Media Conclusions
• Eyewitness testimony is the worst evidence you
  could possibly have, but at trial its the
  strongest evidence you could possibly present.
  -ABC News

5
Eyewitnesses Evidence (Loftus, 1983)

• Type of Evidence guilty votes
• Eyewitness testimony 78
• Fingerprints 70
• Polygraph 53
• Handwriting 34

6
Common Errors

• Overestimate height of criminals
• Overestimate duration of brief events
• Violent encounters lead to poor memory formation
• Pay more attention to the weapon

7
Common Errors

• Overestimate their ID accuracy
• Cross race IDs poor
• Unconsciously transfer
• Susceptible to false memory formation

8
Memory

• Memory as a structure
• Memory as a process
• Context Effects
• Mood
• Interference

9
Context and Memory
Mean Words Recalled
10
Context and Memory
Mean Errors on Test
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
More Factors Affecting Eyewitness Accuracy

• Admonishment
• Selection of lineup fillers should be fair
• Investigator conducting lineup must not know who
  culprit is
• Lineups should be sequentially administered
• Mugshot books should not be viewed before lineup
  is conducted

14
Some Data From SD

• Out of 321major violator cases, 18 were found in
  which the defendant claimed mistaken
  identification at trial.
• Features of these mistaken ID trial cases were
  compared to 3 other types of cases (N 234) that
  also involved eyewitness IDs
• Trial cases in which defendant admitted the act
  (n 30)
• Plea bargained cases (n 138)
• Rejected cases (n 30)

15
Evidence
16
SD Data

• Mistaken ID trial cases most often (89) involved
  physical evidence implicating the suspect.
• Plea bargained cases generally involved better
  witnesses and less physical evidence than trial
  cases. But, suspects were usually arrested
  immediately on scene or within hours.
• DA generally screened out cases with little
  physical evidence, even those that had good
  witnesses.

17
Generalizability Issues
18
Rape in San Diego
19
Date Rape Research

• Victimization is not a random experience.
  Rather, the odds that you will be victimized
  depend on many factors.
• Victimization Survey Findings
• NCVS, UCR and Koss (1987)
• Rape Characteristics
• Acquaintances.
• Drugs and alcohol likely to be involved.
• Victim doesnt report.
• Physical evidence supporting acquaintance rape
  often lacking.

20
Rape in San Diego

• On average, about 2 rapes are reported every day
  in San Diego.
• Most rapes take place between midnight and 5 a.m.
• The victim knows the attacker in 80 of the
  assaults.
• Women are most at risk in their own homes, and
  near and around a vehicle.
• Most happen in neighborhoods near commercial
  zones (downtown Gaslamp, stretches of University
  Ave and El Cajon Blvd, and Palm and Plaza Blvds
  in National City)

21
Prosecuting Rape Cases

• The 1980s The Rape Research Decade
• Victim characteristics, such as promiscuity,
  marital status, victim dress, alcohol use and
  community reputation found to influence case
  processing.
• Victim advocates argued these factors were
  extralegal.
• As a consequence, every state has revised their
  laws and rules of evidence with respect to rape.
• Controversial change well focus on are rape
  shield laws.

22
Does past sexual behavior have probative value?

• Opponents of rape shield laws argue that is has
  probative value if the evidence even slightly
  tends to increase the odds that the woman
  consented.
• Simple instance of past behavior predicting
  similar behavior?
• What legal officials really want to know is,
  Given that a woman has consented, what are the
  odds that she will then report the sexual
  intercourse as rape?

23
False Accusations

• Prevalence Rates
• Kanin (1994) 41-50 false
• UCR (1987) 11 unfounded
• Reasons for False Allegations
• Attention, Sympathy, Revenge, Alibi
• Past Sexual Behavior?

24
False Accusations

• Women presented with dating encounters in which
  consenting sexual contact was taking place.
• Based on their self-reported sexual histories
  they were categorized into experience groups.
• Motive to report the encounter as rape was
  controlled between subjects.

25
Sexual Behavior and Accusations
26
Sexual Behavior and Accusations
27
Sexual Behavior and Accusations
28
Sexual Behavior and Accusations