OBSERVATION & PERCEPTION
The act of using your senses to notice or perceive something in your environment.
What is Observation?
In this procedure, the person administering a lineup does not know which person is the suspect.
What is Blind Administration?
What other subjects/sciences are used in the topic of Forensics?
Chemistry, physics, psychology & biology
What does it mean to be exonerated?
To be officially cleared of blame, responsibility, or a criminal charge after being proven innocent
Interpreting information that is received from your senses.
What is Perception?
What should investigators tell an eyewitness before a lineup to reduce pressure to choose someone?
They should tell the witness that the suspect may or may not be present in the lineup.
What computer system can be used to create a facial composite by combining different facial features?
FACES
What is an eyewitness testimony?
Any oral or written statement explaining what the witness experienced.
Name four factors that can influence a person's memory of an event.
What are emotional state, whether the person was alone or in a group, the number of people or animals present, and the type/amount of activity occurring, age, state of mind?
Why can showing several suspects at the same time create problems for eyewitness identification?
Witnesses may compare the people to each other instead of comparing each person to their memory of the perpetrator.
How can a facial composite be used internally by law enforcement?
It can be shared with other police departments and law enforcement agencies.
What kind of evidence does the Innocence Project use to overturn wrongful convictions?
DNA
What is the Cross Race Effect (CRE)?
A phenomenon in which people are better at recognizing faces of their own race rather than those of other races.
What is a confidence statement, and when should it be collected?
A confidence statement records how confident the eyewitness is in their identification, and it should be collected immediately after the identification.
How can a facial composite be used externally?
It can be shared with the public through the media to help identify a suspect.
True or False: Witnesses who identify a suspect within 15 seconds are generally more accurate than those who take 60 seconds to make an identification.
True
Why should forensic investigators write down and photograph as much information as possible at a crime scene?
Because memory is faulty and fades over time, and documentation preserves information about the scene and evidence for later investigation and court proceedings.
Identify three procedures law enforcement can use to help prevent false eyewitness identifications.
What is deductive reasoning? Why should crime scene investigators be skilled in this?
Deductive reasoning is eliminating possibilities until you are only left with one option. They should be skilled to know what is important and what isn't.
According to the Innocence project, what percentage of convictions are overturned due to eyewitness misidentification?
75%