Why Eyewitness Testimony is Unreliable in the Court of Law
Objective
To successfully complete this course, you must write a research essay based on information found in your textbook, Psychology and Your Life, by Robert S. Feldman, and three outside sources. You'll choose one of the three topics below and write an essay of six complete paragraphs for or against the question being asked. After presenting both sides of the debate, you'll make three claims to support your thesis and convince the reader why your opinion is correct.
Topics
Media Violence: Does media violence cause violent behavior?
Eyewitness Testimony: Is eyewitness testimony reliable in the court of law?
The Opioid Epidemic: Are doctors who overprescribe narcotic pain medication causing the opioid epidemic?
Note: You're to select only one topic for your paper.
Process
Your essay must include the following:
A title page
Introduction paragraph and thesis statement
Topic background paragraph that presents both sides of the debate
Body consisting of three claim paragraphs and supporting evidence
Conclusion paragraph
APA style reference page
The Title Page
The first page of your essay will be the title page. Provide the following information:
The title of your research essay
Your name and student ID
"C04V: Introduction to Psychology"
Exam number
"College"
Current date
Formatting
Format your essay following American Psychological Association (APA) style using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. Set your paragraph line spacing to 2.0, double-spacing. Use 1 inch margins. Include a header with a shortened title in ALL CAPS on the left and the page number on the right. In-text citations and the reference page must be in APA style. On this page list websites, journals, and all other references used in preparing the submission. Also include a cover page and in-text citations. For assistance with this project and APA in-text citations and references, please see the Biology page in the Virtual Library.
Remember that grammar counts! Be sure to reread, revise and proofread your essay for polished English grammar, spelling, capitalization, spacing, and mechanics.
Why Eyewitness Testimony is Unreliable in the Court of Law
Name & Student ID
Introduction to Psychology
Exam Number
College
Current date
Eyewitness testimony is probably the oldest form of evidence collection and the mostly held in high regard in the criminal justice system other than a confession. Over 75,000 suspects are arrested yearly based on eyewitness testimony, and while it propels the criminal justice system, it has been proven to be inherently unreliable. Based on Innocence Project, 1% of the U.S. inmates are unfairly convicted. Further, mistaken eyewitness testimonies contributed 69% to the over 375 wrongful convictions overturned in the U.S. to date through DNA testing (DNA exonerations in the United States (1989-2020), n.d.). With such staggering statistics, it is clear that eyewitness testimony is unreliable due to compromised memories, cross-race misidentification and trauma of the crime.
Eyewitness testimony is often considered the best way to achieve a conviction in a criminal proceeding. Proponents of eyewitness testimony believe