Question

Let’s say you are a defense attorney and are defending a client on a murder charge. The victim was found in a dark alley. A witness had a glimpse of a shadowy figure standing over the body. The police thoroughly interrogate the witness and arrest a young man. The man has an alibi. There is no other evidence against him, except that of the witness. The witness is positive. (1) What factors may lead you to doubt this strong testimony of the witness? (2) Pretend you are the defense attorney and, with your knowledge of the problems with eyewitness testimony and memory, tell the jury why they should be doubtful of the witness. Background material for this essay comes from Chapter 6 (Memory). You must include at least five (5) memory-related terms that make sense with the story that you create. Also, please refer to the section on Eyewitness Testimony in the chapter (pp. 225 – 226).

Answer 1

As mentioned the alley was dark. So it is possible that there was someone else at the crime scene and the witness is mistaken to be that man. It is quite possible to see someone in the dark and mistaken them for someone else. As the alley was dark, eye witness testimony is not reliable.

The eyewitness doesn’t have any evidence whereas my client has an alibi and he was not present at the crime scene. Even if my client was standing near the boy it doesn’t prove that he killed someone.