Summary Criminology Unit 3 AC 3.1 Write Up Model Answer
Summary Criminology Unit 3 AC 3.1 Write Up
Model Answer
, Summary Criminology Unit 3 AC 3.1 Write Up Model Answer
Sources of information
Evidence:
The prosecution and defense will present evidence in a criminal trial and it is up to the jury or
magistrates to decide how valid that evidence is in reaching their verdict.
Before proceeding with a prosecution the cps requires evidence to be:
● Admissible
● Reliable
● Credible
The fact the prosecution's evidence in court has to first convince the cps gives some indication
that it may be valid, but this is not guaranteed for example the defense may be able to
demonstrate shortcomings or inconsistencies in a witness’s testimony during cross-examination.
Eyewitness testimony
Although juties tend to give a lot of weight to eyewitness testimony it is not always valid. Many
convictions based on evidence from eyewitnesses have been overturned when more accurate
and reliable evidence has come to light such as DNA.
Research by psychologists such as loftus et al shows that witnesses memory and the evidence
can be affected by many things:
● The time when the event took place
● Whether they discussed what they saw with other people
● How long ago they witnessed it
● The way questions about the event are put to them in court.
This all suggests that eye witness evidence may lack validity, if the event took place a long time
before the trial the information lacks currency and recall becomes less accurate over time.
Likewise the circumstances in which the memory is formed can undermine validity, for example
loftus et al found that where a weapon was involved ‘weapon focus’ by witnesses meant they
did not form a detailed memory of other aspects such as the offender's description.
Evidence from experts
In complex technical cases, the verdict often hinges on the evidence of an expert such as a
medical professional or forensic scientist, by definition the expert is supposed to know more
about a particular subject then either the legal poffiesional or laypeople, as a result the evidence
given be experts has a special status unlike other witnesses they are entitled to give their own
opinion as experts on the matter especially credible and give it great weight when reaching a
verdict.
Miscarriages of justice
Relying on experts carries the risk of a miscarage of justice if they give inaccurate evidence are
try state what is a opinion is a scientific fact such as the cases of sally clark, donna anthony and
angela cannings were all convicted of killing their infant children on the strength of expert
evidence given by sir roy meadow within he told inaccurate evidence as the said that there was
only a one in 73 million chances of two cot deaths occurring in the same family by chance.
Forensic evidence
Summary Criminology Unit 3 AC 3.1 Write Up
Model Answer
, Summary Criminology Unit 3 AC 3.1 Write Up Model Answer
Sources of information
Evidence:
The prosecution and defense will present evidence in a criminal trial and it is up to the jury or
magistrates to decide how valid that evidence is in reaching their verdict.
Before proceeding with a prosecution the cps requires evidence to be:
● Admissible
● Reliable
● Credible
The fact the prosecution's evidence in court has to first convince the cps gives some indication
that it may be valid, but this is not guaranteed for example the defense may be able to
demonstrate shortcomings or inconsistencies in a witness’s testimony during cross-examination.
Eyewitness testimony
Although juties tend to give a lot of weight to eyewitness testimony it is not always valid. Many
convictions based on evidence from eyewitnesses have been overturned when more accurate
and reliable evidence has come to light such as DNA.
Research by psychologists such as loftus et al shows that witnesses memory and the evidence
can be affected by many things:
● The time when the event took place
● Whether they discussed what they saw with other people
● How long ago they witnessed it
● The way questions about the event are put to them in court.
This all suggests that eye witness evidence may lack validity, if the event took place a long time
before the trial the information lacks currency and recall becomes less accurate over time.
Likewise the circumstances in which the memory is formed can undermine validity, for example
loftus et al found that where a weapon was involved ‘weapon focus’ by witnesses meant they
did not form a detailed memory of other aspects such as the offender's description.
Evidence from experts
In complex technical cases, the verdict often hinges on the evidence of an expert such as a
medical professional or forensic scientist, by definition the expert is supposed to know more
about a particular subject then either the legal poffiesional or laypeople, as a result the evidence
given be experts has a special status unlike other witnesses they are entitled to give their own
opinion as experts on the matter especially credible and give it great weight when reaching a
verdict.
Miscarriages of justice
Relying on experts carries the risk of a miscarage of justice if they give inaccurate evidence are
try state what is a opinion is a scientific fact such as the cases of sally clark, donna anthony and
angela cannings were all convicted of killing their infant children on the strength of expert
evidence given by sir roy meadow within he told inaccurate evidence as the said that there was
only a one in 73 million chances of two cot deaths occurring in the same family by chance.
Forensic evidence
