Commonwealth v. Gomes
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Summary

The MA Supreme Judicial Court held that trial courts should provide enhanced jury instructions on eyewitness identification reflecting accepted scientific research on memory and perception, while affirming the defendant's convictions.

2015 | State Juristiction

Commonwealth v. Gomes

Keywords Eyewitness identification; jury instructions; scientific research; memory; perception
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Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that trial courts ought to furnish more comprehensive jury instructions regarding eyewitness identification. These instructions should incorporate established scientific findings concerning memory and perception. Despite this directive, the court upheld the defendant's original convictions.

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Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that trial judges should give more detailed instructions to juries about eyewitness identification. These new instructions will include information based on scientific research about how memory and perception work. Despite this ruling, the court still upheld the defendant's convictions in the specific case.

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Summary

The MA Supreme Judicial Court decided that trial courts should give juries better instructions about eyewitness identification. These new instructions will include information from scientific research on how memory and perception work. The court made this decision while still upholding the defendant's convictions.

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Summary

The highest court in Massachusetts, called the Supreme Judicial Court, made a decision saying that when a person is on trial and an eyewitness saw what happened, the judge should give special instructions to the jury. These instructions should explain how our memory and what we see can sometimes be wrong, based on what scientists have learned. Even with this decision, the court still agreed with the guilty verdicts for the person on trial.

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Footnotes and Citation

Cite

Commonwealth v. Gomes, 470 Mass. 352, 22 N.E.3d 897 (2015)

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