Ronald Cotton Eyewitness Misidentification Court Case

Ronald Cotton Eyewitness Misidentification The Ronald Cotton case is well known for the fact that misidentification happens when having a victim identifying a suspect and how detrimental this misidentification can be to someone. It is clear in many ways that identification is unreliable. Ronald Cotton was wrongfully convicted due to the fact that a witness had chosen him rather than the real perpetrator. This happened due to the fact that the victim, Jennifer Thompson Cannino, had an altered memory of the situation. But, within this case, there was also the issue that the victims felt as though their feelings and experiences were being dismissed, which did not help in getting the correct person held responsible. Supporting Evidence and Facts There

This finding proved that while Jennifer swore it was Ronald based on his appearance, it is not. Additionally, there is the fact that there was suspect bias represented in Jennifer choosing Ronald and continuing to believe that it was Ronald behind the crime even when evidence proved otherwise. So, eliminating as much suspect bias would have made an exponential difference in identifying the correct person. There are issues with relying on eyewitness testimonies, especially when it comes to a traumatic event such as sexual violence. Specifically stated by Smith and Hattery (2011) is that almost all wrongful convictions from other studies were resulting from the lack of reliability with eyewitness testimonies. Additionally stated in the same article is that “white victims often misidentify African American men” (Smith & Hattery, 2011). This is pertinent since in this case, there was a misidentification of an African American man. There are numerous issues with the way the victim, Jennifer, remembered the night. In the video it is stated that the situation took place at night, while it was hot, and while a traumatic event