Ronald Cotton is a man convicted of a crime he did not commit.

He was convicted of rape and

misidentified by the victim, Jennifer Thompson. After the description of his physical
characteristics police had Cotton as a suspect. He spent 11 years in prison. Thompson picked
him out of the physical assailant with huge confidence. Cotton already had a run in with law for
sexual assault (attempted rape when he was 16) and with Thompson’s determination everyone
was confident that he was the attacker.

The pros of an eyewitness are the accurate description of crime that is provided, the police get
to hear an accurate and full story most of the time when eyewitnesses are involved. It has a
huge impact on jury’s decision because it shapes the story and gives it more sharpness and
detail. However it can be completely wrong and misleading. It is more often than we think that
people are convicted wrongfully due to false identification eyewitness does (70% of wrongful
convictio to false identification by an eyewitness . There is a lot that goes on to person’s mind
psychologically. It is not evidence based on science, it is subjective. Also, there are a lot of
biases just the physical line up can create prejudices. In the case of Robert Cotton, the victim
was trying to study features of the attacker while the crime was happening so she could identify
him. That may have led her imagination and her past memories affect what she was seeing, not
to mention how similar Ronald and the actual attacker turned out to look. Many people who
work in this field often wonder should eyewitnesses even be brought to the courtroom.
Perceptions can lead to huge mistakes and wrongfully end someone’s life. DNA tests are far
more reliable as scientific evidence although it cannot tell a story.