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Eyewitnesses are called to give evidence of occurrences that took place in a crime scene as well as identify the suspects that are culpable of committing the offense in a court of law. Thus jurors base their judgment of the case based on the evidence that eyewitnesses give. The empirical researches on the topic have over time made the legal system to be suspicious of eyewitness evidence. Thus, it is paramount that the legal system identifies the different factors that make eyewitness evidence to be incredible. The study discussed the following factors; weapon focus, stress, reconstructive memory, misleading information, alcohol, time, age, and gender; and assessed the possible ways through which the validity can be improved. According to the study findings, most of the witnesses, except the shy and autistic people, will be distracted by the weapon. Further, the study revealed that both genders tend to have an inclination towards remembering the suspects of the same gender. Also, the male eyewitnesses should be probed for the sequence of events during the crime because they are better at identifying such occurrences. The third finding was that children and the aged are vulnerable to forgetting key details. The last finding was that intoxication influences the memory of the eyewitness.
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In-Text Citation: (Fakiha, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Fakiha, B. (2018). Determining the Validity of Eyewitness Evidence. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(10), 1–11.
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