Forensic Psychology



Forensic Psychology

Exam 4

1. You are a defense attorney prosecuting a case. You have an eyewitness who, during questioning before the trial, reported several details to you that were unrelated to the crime being prosecuted. As the defense attorney would you ask the eyewitness about the details, even though they are unrelated to the actual testimony you need. Explain why you would or would not ask about unrelated details. How would the unrelated details impact the credibility of the eyewitness? If the judge stopped your line of questioning due to relativity would it help or hurt your case? Why?

2. You are the prosecuting attorney in a child abuse case. You have an eyewitness but you know that the defense will discredit your witness since he has a history of being a pathological liar. Would you use the eyewitness anyway (knowing he would be discredited) Why or why not?

3. You are an attorney who has a witness that may benefit from hypnosis to assist in remembering some details of a scene. According to your textbook and outside readings, how would the jurors react to the use of hypnotically refreshed memory. If you choose to use hypnosis, how will it impact the credibility of your witness?

4. Expert witnesses are used in court quite often. Based on the textbook and outside reading, discuss the credibility issues of expert witnesses as perceived by the jurors.

5. What are the credibility issues of testimony by children? Are children prone to tell the truth? Are children more likely to misrepresent the facts than adults? How credible are their memories? Are children more suggestible than adults?

6. Based on the textbook and your outside readings, discuss the credibility issues of recovered memories.

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