Eyewitness misidentifications

According to the Innocence Project, the leading cause of wrongful convictions is eyewitness misidentification.

Eyewitness misidentification is by far the leading cause of wrongful convictions. Nationwide, 75% of wrongful convictions that were overturned by DNA testing involved erroneous identifications from victims or witnesses.

Decades of solid scientific research, combined with a growing body of real-world experience, show that eyewitness identification is often fallible. Simple reforms have been proven to increase the accuracy of identifications.

I mention this because no few of the television commentariat have ballooned with outrage at the suggestion that perhaps Dr. Ford has misidentified Brett Kavanaugh as her attacker.

Granted, it sounds implausible; how could a woman mistake the face of the man who attacked her? The well-documented fact is that it does happen, however, and the possibility has to be considered when we’re talking about two solid citizens with good reputations.

It doesn’t need much imagination to picture a scenario where then 15-year old Dr. Ford has had a drink or two, is assaulted, and later, innocently and in good faith, fills in her memory of the attack with the wrong face. It happens, and at least explains the immovable contradictions in their stories.

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