Eyewitness Bias
Eyewitness testimonies and identifications play a significant role in most convictions. Ideally, eyewitness identification is the most reliable form of evidence since the person who witnessed the crime can recount the event and even identify the suspect. However, human memory is susceptible to distortion and bias, which makes eyewitness testimony less reliable. Although eyewitness testimony can be compelling due to the emotions of the witness, the statement mostly serves the role of persuasion rather than provide irrefutable evidence. In ‘Picking Cotton Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption’ eyewitness testimony is the crucial evidence used to convict Ronald Cotton wrongly. Therefore, eyewitness bias makes eyewitness testimony a less reliable type of evidence.
Jennifer Thompson was confident, when identifying Ronald Cotton as the rapist from a live lineup. Also, the person in her sketch bore a striking resemblance to Cotton, which was provided more ground for identifying Cotton as the perpetrator. When Jennifer was first asked to identify the rapist using photos provided to her, she spent time deliberating between two pictures and finally settled on Cotton. As time went by, Jennifer became convinced that Cotton was indeed the rapist. However, psychologists argue that human memory is not as reliable as it seems. The human mind reassembles a memory every time it is played back, which makes the event susceptible to distortion. The case of Jennifer Thompson is no different. When first identifying Cotton, Jennifer was not as confident as when she recognized him on the live lineup. Every time Jennifer got interviewed, she reassembled the incident only this time, she put a face to the man who raped her. Therefore, due to the nature of human memory, eyewitness testimony can get easily contaminated with bias and can also fade with time.
Eyewitness bias can be as a result of emotional and psychological distress. At the time of the case against Cotton, Jennifer was emotionally and psychologically distressed and wanted the person who raped her incarcerated. In the memoir, Jennifer mentions praying for her rapist also to get rapped during his incarceration. The aftermath of sexual assault is traumatizing due to the severe psychological, emotional as well as physical effects. Due to distress, it is likely for the witness to recount events that never occurred. Also, in a bid to find closure with a conviction, a sexual assault eye witness is likely to identify a perpetrator wrongly. In the memoir, Jennifer Thompson describes how her emotions swayed from venomous rage to extreme shame, emotions that convinced her that the person she identified in the photo and live line up was the rapist and he needed to get incarcerated. Thus, although eyewitness testimony is compelling, it is prone to bias since the judgment of the witness can be clouded to emotional and psychological distress.
Eyewitness testimony is also susceptible to bias due to misinformation due to the factors surrounding a situation. For instance, Jennifer Thompson picked Cotton from the lineup because of his previous run-ins with the law. Since Cotton fitted the physical description of the rapist and had a prior criminal record, he was the best fit. Therefore, misinformation and can make people remember incorrectly and lead to eyewitness bias.
In conclusion, eyewitness testimony is not as reliable as it seems. Faulty eyewitness testimony can lead to a wrongful conviction. Although there are cases where eyewitness testimony is remarkably accurate and reliable, there are also cases, like the case of Cotton, where eyewitness testimony has led to wrongful incarceration. Thus, eyewitness testimony should not be the only evidence for a conviction. The prosecution should also consider using forensic evidence and DNA test results alongside eyewitness testimony to reduce the chances of convicting people wrongly as a result of eyewitness bias.