Notes:
Ronald Cotton is an innocent black man who was falsely convicted of rape due to a false witness identification. He was wrongfully imprisoned until the Innocence Project took over his case and proved his innocence via DNA.
Researchers have tested how often misinformation occurs when witnesses are allowed to talk to each other. Two subjects were made to watch different versions of one video, while believing they were witnessing the same one. When subjects did not have communication information, recall was 79% accurate, compared to 34% accurate with communication allowed.
There are multiple factors that can increase eyewitness error such as: bad vision, situation where the crime is unfolding, traumatic incidents, fast paced events/unsureness, time, and struggle to remember face not from your own race.