Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Weapon focus is the concentration on a weapon by a witness of a crime and the subsequent inability to accurately remember other details of the crime. [1] Weapon focus is a factor that heavily affects the reliability of eyewitness testimony .
The weapon focus effect suggests that the presence of a weapon narrows a person's attention, thus affects eyewitness memory. [25] A person focuses on the central detail (for example, the weapon) and loses focus on the peripheral details thus resulting in worse perpetrator recall. [26]
Psychologists have probed the reliability of eyewitness testimony since the beginning of the 20th century. [1] One prominent pioneer was Hugo Münsterberg, whose controversial book On the Witness Stand (1908) demonstrated the fallibility of eyewitness accounts, but met with fierce criticism, particularly in legal circles. [2]
In eyewitness identification, in criminal law, evidence is received from a witness "who has actually seen an event and can so testify in court". [1]The Innocence Project states that "Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in more than 75% of convictions overturned through DNA testing."
The weapon appeared to jam, but the suspect cleared it and kept shooting. The gunman then jogged across the street, in plain view of witnesses. "I was looking at my phone, then I hear the shot.
There are plenty of real world examples that are somewhat common knowledge. It could also be useful to link an example of a news article where an eye-witness testimony was false or where police took inappropriate action when conducting a line up. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robertrohner (talk • contribs) 22:49, 2 May 2016 (UTC)
The collapsible stock, Wray said, would explain why witnesses did not see Crooks walking around with a weapon beforehand and why the firearm was not spotted until Crooks was already on the roof.
Image credits: nineteensickhorses #2. Heather Teague. She was dragged into the woods from a riverbank. The abduction was witnessed from across the river by a man using a telescope.