Abstract
Despite the advent of scientific evidence in criminal adjudication, eyewitness testimony continues to be widely prevalent in the criminal justice system for many reasons. From among the wrongful convictions that have been widely reported, it has been found that about 72% of these occurred due to eyewitness misidentification, among other reasons. This chapter unravels the various factors that affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and eyewitness identification. Different case studies from across the globe, including South Asia, are critically analysed to diagnose the fallibility in eyewitness testimony and determine the weightage that should be given to such evidence. Various cognitive psychological theories such as fuzzy-trace theory, source monitoring, verbal overshadowing, and models of misinformation (overwriting, misinformation, activation-based model) will be used to highlight the memory fallacies.
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Junnarkar, M., Lakhani, S. (2021). Investigating the Eyewitness: Accuracy and Fallacies of Memory. In: Sahni, S.P., Bhadra, P. (eds) Criminal Psychology and the Criminal Justice System in India and Beyond. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4570-9_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4570-9_13
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