Federal civil rights charges unlikely against police officer in Ferguson shooting

[branford]

35. You need only Google eyewitness testimony for ample articles on its unreliability.

It's not that all witnesses lie or act in bad faith, because they most certainly do not, it's just than human memory and perception is not nearly as exact as many believe or expect. Conversely, the partisanship or lack of credibility of bad-faith witnesses is fairly easy to discern by any competent attorney or investigator.

I'm I trial attorney in NYC (commercial, not criminal), and I can assure you than in any given circumstance, you can find multiple witnesses of impeccable character and honesty, and who purportedly directly witnessed or had knowledge of a particular act or circumstance, yet whose testimonies are radically different. This is a constant in our judicial system, as any lawyer can attest. It's hardly controversial. That is why documentary and related materials, and in the case of criminal matters, forensic evidence, is so critically important. It provides its own information and informs the credibility of witnesses. In the modern era, with scientific and forensic advancements (and, sadly, unrealistic television programs and movies), the expectation for such evidence has only grown, and some juries will not even convict without it.

As to judging what has been thus far released as either reliable or unreliable, neither you, I or any other member of the general public is any position to render an informed opinion. The credibility of witnesses should be determined in the context of all other witnesses and evidence, i.e., a hearing or trial, or at least knowledge of all that's available to the government. At this juncture, we know but a mere fraction of what is available to the district attorney, Department of Justice, police, FBI and the sitting grand jury. Moreover, preconceived notions about the police, minority youth, racism, or anything remotely related to the Brown incident, is exactly the type of prejudice that would render someone ineligible to serve on a relevant jury, as it prevents an objective review of all the evidence and would incorporate inadmissible material outside the confines of a trial and judicial instruction, and of course, such opinion is definitely not evidence.

The entire grand jury transcripts should prove most enlightening . . .