Exploring the influence of courtroom questioning and pre-trial preparation on eyewitness accuracy

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

When witnesses testify in court they enter an unfamiliar world. Witness preparation courses aim to demystify the court process and claim to help witnesses develop appropriate skills that will assist them to give their best evidence. When it comes to cross-examination, witnesses are given information about the standard tactics used by lawyers and given practical advice on how best to approach the interaction. They are informed about the basic rationale of cross-examination, for example, which is to discredit opposing testimony, and are directed to listen carefully to questions, to request clarification where appropriate and never to answer a question they do not understand. Proponents claim that pre-trial witness preparation puts witnesses 'on their guard' with the result that they are more likely to monitor their own comprehension and are less likely to be misled or unduly influenced by the form of cross-examination questions. These are significant claims but they have yet to be subject to empirical scrutiny. There is a substantial international literature documenting the strategies lawyers employ during cross-examination. This research indicates that standard questioning techniques can cause confusion and militate against the provision of complete and accurate testimony in legal proceedings. The impact of witness preparation as currently practiced in England and Wales on witness accuracy has not been investigated by researchers however. A number of studies have examined the impact of witness familiarisation techniques on children's ability to deal with complex court language with encouraging results but the methods of preparation employed (booklets, models and role-play) differ markedly from those utilised by witness preparation providers in England and Wales. Against this background, this study sets out to investigate:(i) the impact of standard witness preparation techniques on adult witnesses' use of comprehension monitoring strategies during cross-examination e.g. requesting that questions be repeated, rephrased or clarified; and (ii) the impact of standard witness preparation techniques on adult witness accuracy. In so doing it will provide original insights which will be of significant interest to key participants in the legal process (witnesses, lawyers, Crown Prosecution Service, judges, witness training providers, police officers) and to Government with regards the practical utility of witness preparation techniques. Witnesses play a major role in legal proceedings (both criminal and civil) and there is a clear and obvious public interest in identifying procedures that both undermine and maximise the quality of evidence received by the courts. The Court of Appeal has recently endorsed the practice of witness preparation in R v Momodou [2005] 2 All ER 571 (whilst making it clear that witness coaching is prohibited), and one might expect more organisations to become involved in witness preparation as a direct result. Current providers include leading training consultancy Bond Solon, the College of Law, the Inns of Court School of Law and the Crown Prosecution Service as well as smaller operations catering to specific professional groups. It is significant that these witness training courses are primarily aimed at fee-paying 'professional' witnesses (e.g. expert witnesses, police officers). Currently, there is no equivalent service available to ordinary lay witnesses, including victims of crime involved in criminal proceedings. By exploring the utility of witness preparation techniques, this study will help establish whether there is case for making witness preparation services more widely available, thereby contributing to an important ongoing debate regarding appropriate policy in this area.