Brief of Amici Curiae Committee for Public Counsel Services, Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Committee for Public Counsel Services
Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
New England Innocence Project
Innocence Project
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Summary

Modern scientific advances in eyewitness memory constitute newly discovered evidence warranting post-conviction review and explain how mistaken yet persuasive eyewitness testimony can distort jurors' evaluation of all other evidence.

2024 | State Juristiction

Brief of Amici Curiae Committee for Public Counsel Services, Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Keywords eyewitness memory; scientific advances; post-conviction review; mistaken eyewitness testimony; persuasive eyewitness testimony; jurors; evidence evaluation; newly discovered evidence; distort evidence; false conviction
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Summary

Recent scientific breakthroughs in understanding eyewitness memory provide new information. This information should lead to a review of past convictions. It also helps explain how eyewitness testimony, even when wrong, can be very convincing and change how jurors view other evidence.

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Summary

Recent scientific breakthroughs in understanding eyewitness memory provide new information. This information should be used to review past convictions. It helps explain how eyewitness testimony, even when wrong, can be very convincing and make jurors misunderstand other evidence.

Open Amicus Brief as PDF

Summary

Recent scientific discoveries about how eyewitness memory works are important new evidence. These findings show how eyewitness accounts, even when wrong, can strongly influence juries. This influence can then change how jurors look at all other evidence presented in a case.

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Summary

Scientists have learned new things about how people remember what they see. This new information can help review old court cases. It helps explain how someone can be sure they saw something, but still be wrong. This wrong but convincing story can make jurors think differently about all the other facts in a case.

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Footnotes and Citation

Cite

Brief of Amici Curiae Committee for Public Counsel Services, Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, New England Innocence Project, and the Innocence Project in Support of Appellant, Commonwealth v. Mercado, No. SJC-13548 (Mass. Aug. 19, 2024)

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