NCJ Number
122123
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1989) Pages: 311-332
Date Published
1989
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Critical issues underlying the debate on the admissibility of expert psychological testimony on eyewitness matters are jurors' understanding and use of expert testimony.
Abstract
In this study of data on those issues, a realistic videotaped trial centered around eyewitness evidence was viewed by mock jurors. When several aspects of the evidence and the presence of expert testimony were varied orthogonally, the study showed that the presence of expert testimony improved juror sensitivity to eyewitness evidence. Jurors who heard expert testimony gave more weight to witnessing and identification conditions and less weight to witness confidence when evaluating the accuracy of the identification in comparison with jurors who heard no expert testimony. In addition, those jurors who heard expert testimony were not more skeptical of the eyewitness evidence. 2 tables, 70 references. (Author abstract modified)