Inconsistent witness testimony an all too common problem

June 2017

Different witnesses of a shooting at a bar in Appleton, Wisconsin remember the event differently -- a common problem, according to Elizabeth Loftus, a distinguished professor of social ecology.

"Anytime you have a group situation where something happens and you question witnesses about it, you end of up with lots of variation," Loftus told the USA Today Network in Wisconsin.

The various witnesses aren't necessarily lying; they just remember the event differently.

"They are focusing on different parts of the event and they may draw inferences about what could have happened," she said.

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