Eyewitness Testimony Can Be Problematic at Trial
July 2012
Recently, the supreme court of New Jersey issued instructions to judges in that state saying that when there is a case that includes eyewitness testimony, they must inform the jury of potential problems with such accounts. New Jersey judges will be required to say that human memory is not foolproof. Research has revealed that human memory is not like a video recording that a witness need only replay to remember what happened. Memory is far more complex.
Robert Siegel talks to Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor in the School of Social Ecology, about how jurors can better evaluate the credibility of "eyewitness testimony" in criminal trials.