Expert Psychological Testimony (From Psychology of Evidence and Trial Procedure, P 201-226, 1985, Saul M Kassin and Lawrence S Wrightsman, eds. - See NCJ-99863)

• NCJ Number: 99870
• Author(s): E Greene; J W Schoolder; E F Loftus
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 26 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The role of expert testimony by research psychologists is examined in relation to eyewitness identification cases, homicides committed by battered women, and rape cases.

Abstract

In all these cases, experts provide the jury with general information based on experimental data. In eyewitness cases, experts testify about the effects of the context of the crime, memory processes, emotions, and various other factors that may affect eyewitness performance. The witness gives general information, letting the jury decide the applicability letting the jury decide the applicability of specific factors. Testimony on the battered woman syndrome may focus on the cyclical theory of battering, the phenomenon of learned helplessness, and effects of abuse on the woman's perceived consequences of her actions. Psychologists who testify about research related to the rape trauma syndrome generally discuss victims' behavior before and during the assault and their responses after the rape. The four factors involved in the decision to admit expert testimony are the complexity of the subject matter, the qualifications of the expert, the scientific reliability of the evidence, and the need for the evidence's probative value to outweigh its prejudicial effect. Strong disagreements exist among psychologists regarding three of these factors; the issue of expert qualifications is relatively free of controversy. To help resolve these controversies,< expert witnesses could state their personal values when giving testimony. 1 note and 94 references.