Ronald Cotton Eyewitness Testimony

Words: 144
Pages: 1
Open Document
Eyewitness testimonies are often unreliable and yet they are usually the most incriminating "evidence" provided in court.

In 1985, Ronald Cotton was convicted of the rape of two college students, one of which was Jennifer Thompson-Cannino. Thompson was determined to not only survive the horrifying experience, but to memorize every feature of her assailant so that she could ensure his imprisonment. At the time of the trial, DNA testing did not exist; most of the evidence presented against Cotton was completely circumstantial and didn’t prove his guilt. However, this evidence is not what sent Cotton to prison. His conviction came from the powerful eyewitness testimony of Thompson. She chose Cotton out of a photo line up and later identified
Show More

Related Documents: Ronald Cotton Eyewitness Testimony

Ronald Cotton Eyewitness Testimony

The case of ronald cotton is a powerful example that demonstrate that eyewitness testimony is not always reliable. Ronald cotton was wrongly convicted of the rape of Jennifer Thompson by means of the victim’s testimony before DNA analysis was widely used. What I find interesting is during the police interrogation, when Jennifer Thompson was going through the pictures ,she said it felt like she was taking the S.A.T exam. I think this was an odd comparison for a photo lineup because it only…

Words 451 - Pages 2

Criminal Justice System: Picking Cotton

other collective human activates and responsibilities, that govern, and protect relationships between individuals in the society isn’t perfect. Relying solely on the eye-witness testimony could lead to the wrong conviction, in result of that, an innocent human being could be wrongly convicted. The authors of Picking Cotton, tackled almost every corner of this story deeply from three dimensions, the integrity of telling each side of the story shows the ethical commitment to the truth individually,…

Words 1239 - Pages 5

Eyewitness Research Paper

Eyewitness Testimony Eyewitness testimony is defined as, “an area of research that investigates the accuracy of memory following an accident, crime, or other significant event, and the types of errors that are commonly made in such situations.” Much emphasis is placed on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony as often-inaccurate eyewitness testimony can have serious consequences leading to wrong convictions. Eyewitness testimony is a powerful tool within any field, particularly that…

Words 2534 - Pages 11

Essay on Crime and New York Times

ordeal of being sexually assaulted. Picking Cotton is a New York Times best seller, and based on a true story which is another reason why I give kudos to the Authors. In my opinion, Picking Cotton touched bases on several issues such as: the rage and violent crimes people commit, the injustice proven in the criminal justice system, and the racism that still exist. This book was filled with vivid details, I could almost visualize and feel what Jennifer and Ronald had to go through. In the beginning of…

Words 1010 - Pages 5

Eyewitness Fallibility: The Innocence Research Task

Eyewitness fallibility The innocence project research task Part one: Research the history of DNA and how it came to be used as criminal evidence DNA testing made its way into the courts in 1986, when police in England asked molecular biologist Alec Jeffreys, who had begun investigating the use of DNA for forensics, to use DNA to verify the confession of a 17-year-old boy in two rape-murders in the English Midlands. The tests proved the teenager was in fact not the perpetrator and the actual attacker…

Words 693 - Pages 3