Question

Mr. Cotton spent 11 years in prison before DNA testing proved that someone else, a man named Bobby Poole, had actually attacked Jennifer. Although correct procedures were followed in the investigation, a combination of several factors led to Jennifer's confident and persuasive testimony during Ronald Cotton's trial. Which of the following presents a scenario where positive feedback could have impacted Jennifer's identification of her assailant?
a. Jennifer was given only ten minutes to identify her attacker from the lineup.
b. Jennifer was shown several photos simultaneously rather than a sequence of photos.
c. Jennifer was not informed that her attacker might not be in the lineup.
d. Officers told Jennifer that the man she identified in the photo array had been involved in other breaking-and-entering crimes.

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is - option D. Officers told Jennifer that the man she identified in the photo array had been involved in other breaking-and-entering crimes.

Explanation:

In this case, Jennifer claimed that Mr. Cottons is the person who attacked her based on her memory and wrong source of information, however, it eventually found out that it was Bobby, not Cottons.

It is most likely to happen on the basis of options that she gets additional information called suggestibility, about her previous crimes and escaping. She constructed a memory on the suggestibility instead of retrieving the incident. Thus, she concluded that Mr. Cotton was her perpetrator.