Ronald Cotton Case Study

In addition to the harrowing case of Ronald Cotton, the reliability of an eyewitness testimony was recently challenged with the incorrect conviction of Kash Register. While sitting in his parked Chevrolet in 1979, an elderly man named Jack Sasson was viciously robbed of his life when he was shot five times at close proximity (Bazelon). Brenda Anderson, a nineteen year old who occupied an apartment on the same street, informed police that she heard the rowdy sound of gunfire, and when she peered out her window, noticed an African-American man stumbling away from the scene, before turning back and firing further rounds (Bazelon). When Anderson was shown photographs of several young men, she quickly recognized Register, who was a previous classmate

A soon-to-be father who lived near the shooting, Register had a confirmed alibi of being at the unemployment office that morning, and yet somehow he was labeled guilty of first-degree murder (Bazelon). At the same time as Register's arrest, a hesitant Anderson explained to the prosecutor that it was possible she had been confused during the identification because Register was her former classmate (Bazelon). She also mentioned that she had not seen the criminal very well as he scurried away from the scene (Bazelon). A law professor named Brandon Garrett reported that out of 75 percent of the 250 overturned convictions, more than one-half involved apprehensive eyewitnesses who gradually became confident in their decision (Bazelon). This was the case with Register and the two eyewitnesses who had the ability to impede his freedom with frayed "puppet strings." Although originally lacking in confidence in what they had seen, Anderson and Singleton had continued with their testimonies against Kash (Bazelon). A gut-wrenching final verdict echoed throughout the courtroom like ringing bells of despair. "I didn't do nothing!" Register exclaimed through tears (Bazelon). He was incarcerated for a chilling thirty-four years until Sheila Vanderkam, Brenda Anderson's sister, became driven to reopen his case (Bazelon). Anderson was a damaged person, and her sister knew that was because she had lied during the testimony (Bazelon). Since there was no physical evidence, Anderson was deemed an unreliable source, and Register was finally exonerated (Bazelon). Even though justice prevailed, contaminated eyewitness accounts had caused Register to tragically miss the birth of his daughter, grandchildren, and three decades of a normal