In Brief: Eyewitness Evidence

OJEN In Brief resources are designed to provide high school students with an introduction to basic legal concepts. Each resource includes a short lesson plan for the teacher; a plain language description of the legal topic; and activities that provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge of the topic.

This handout provides an overview of eyewitness evidence, including the variables that affect eyewitness testimony, eyewitness identification procedures and how eyewitness evidence is introduced in a criminal trial. Students are also introduced to the potential problems with eyewitness identification that can lead to costly errors and misidentification. They will review the case of Thomas Sophonow who was wrongly convicted based in part on eyewitness misidentification.