The
eyewitness, a staple of criminal prosecution and the base upon which many a
conviction rests. But scientific studies on observation and memory - especially
in times of stress - have increasingly raised doubts about eyewitness
reliability and fears of faulty verdicts.
On this edition of Due Process, the dilemma of the
pivotal eyewitness, whose testimony may be sincere, but mistaken, or maliciously
manufactured or coerced.
Sandra King's opening mini-doc recalls 17 years of Due
Process coverage of exonerated inmates, most of whom were convicted and
imprisoned on the word of eyewitnesses to the crime, years later - sometimes
after decades of an innocent man's incarceration - proven wrong.
With the State Supreme Court now requiring tighter rules of interrogation
and judicial warnings to jurors, New Jersey continues to lead the country in
efforts begun over a decade ago by then-Attorney General John Farmer, who first
reformed the rules for investigative techniques like perp photo displays and
lineups.
In the studio, with Raymond Brown and Sandy: former prosecutor and Newark
Judge Anthony Guerino, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Prof. Dr. Steven
Penrod and national capital case expert Montclair Attorney Jean
Barrett.
Due
Process - winner of 21 New York and Mid-Atlantic Emmys - airs on
NJTV, successor to New Jersey Network, on the stations and
cable positions once occupied by NJN.
Due
Process is
a production of Rutgers School of Law - Newark and the Edward J.
Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy with studio facilities
provided by the Rutgers iTV Studio, Division of Continuing Studies.
Major
funding for Due Process is provided by The Fund for New
Jersey and Rutgers, The State
University.
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