Eyewitness: How Accurate Is Visual Memory, Lesley Stahl Reports On Flaws In Eyewitness Testimony That Lead To Wrong Convictions, CBS 60 Minutes ReportPublication Date: 2009
It's a cliché of courtroom dramas - that moment when the witness is asked "Do you see the person who committed the crime here in this courtroom before you?" It happens in real courtrooms all the time, and to jurors, that point of the finger by a confident eyewitness is about as damning as evidence can get.
But there is one type of evidence that's even more persuasive: DNA. There have been 233 people exonerated by DNA in this country, and now a stunning pattern has emerged: more than three quarters of them were sent to prison at least in part because an eyewitness pointed a finger - an eyewitness we now know was wrong.