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While we all have a strong tendency to think that eyewitness accounts of a crime are very accurate, they may actually be the worst form of evidence. As study after study has shown, eyewitness testimony is one of the most unreliable types of all evidence.

Therefore, when we are interviewing witnesses, we are sometimes faced with a dilemma: the person being interviewed exhibits truthful signs and "signals", yet their eyewitness account is dramatically different from other witnesses and/or evidence at a crime scene. Our natural inclination may be to think the person is lying, but in actuality, they are telling their version of the truth.

Have you ever heard the old axiom "Perception is Reality?"

The following factors all influence eyewitness accounts of a crime:

Weapon Focus -

There is a strong tendency to focus on that which presents the greatest immediate threat to the body (Psychological Set). This manifests itself in witnesses focusing on a weapon, to the exclusion of everything else. It is not uncommon for a witness to describe a weapon in great detail, and not even be able to tell an investigator whether the suspect had blond, brown or black hair!

Cross-Racial Identification & Ethnic Biases -

People's biases play a part in their identification of individuals. Ever heard the statement, "They all look the same" and wondered how it affects you? It is not uncommon for someone to identify a race, then quit looking for descriptive features.

Pressure to Choose -

Witnesses may feel pressured to make an identification by the police or by other witnesses. As a consequence, they may rush to make an identification or may exaggerate their own part in witnessing a crime. This probably is the biggest factor in on-scene witness identification.

Post Event Influences -

As a crime scene unfolds, events which transpired after the actual crime (like someone pointing to a running suspect and saying "There he is") may influence their actual memories of the incident. This is very prevalent at accident scenes or public disasters of great magnitude. Television coverage exacerbates this problem. It is not uncommon for witnesses to talk to the media before they are interviewed by the police.

The point is that if someone processes information, they process it through their own individual "filters" and what actually makes it to their memories may be dramatically different from the ground truth. In part, this is what makes eyewitness accounts notoriously unreliable. Other factors that play a part include fear, shock and self-protection in the memory retrieval process.

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