Role of Eyewitness Testimony in Criminal Trials

Abstract

The role of eyewitness in the justice delivery system is important, but many times it leads to wrongful convictions of innocent persons who knows nothing or were not present at the crime scene, or maybe a passerby, or is in no way related to the offense committed. As an eyewitness, he or she is supposed to foresee the applicability of the testimony to be delivered if it will be useful for the conviction of the right person or that of the accused. An eyewitness can also be misleading and mistake something for another, especially when the probability of foreseeing the offender is not clear and precise.