New Michael Brown Witnesses Speak Out: He Had His Hands Up

[strawberries]

3. more witnesses less of a chance

Here is an interesting read about witnesses and their memories.

Memory is affected by retelling, and we rarely tell a story in a neutral fashion. By tailoring our stories to our listeners, our bias distorts the very formation of memory—even without the introduction of misinformation by a third party. The protections of the judicial system against prosecutors and police "assisting" a witness’ memory may not sufficiently ensure the accuracy of those memories. Even though prosecutors refrain from "refreshing" witness A’s memory by showing her witness B’s testimony, the mere act of telling prosecutors what happened may bias and distort the witness’s memory. Eyewitness testimony, then, is innately suspect.


http://agora.stanford.edu/sjls/Issue%20One/fisher&tversky.htm