Children And Courts

Children as eyewitnesses

The testimonies of children as potential eyewitnesses before a court of law are situations that should be cause for alarm. A serious crime has occurred, exposing a young child in the process of the crime, which could lead to trauma through firsthand witness of the act.

Children at an early age are exposed to certain acts of witnessing violence, but cannot completely comprehend just what it is they are facing. Fear, uncertainty, and trauma will most likely have an effect on the child’s mind. Reality and fantasy will be a problem for a young child to differentiate between the two.

Children have yet to experience how to distinguish fiction from nonfiction; therefore the child in such a situation may be reluctant or unwilling to be forthcoming or to speak about or to explain just what he/she had witnessed. Or, the reverse could be true, and the child could reveal too much information, which creates a controversy over whether or not the testimony would be admissible in the court of law.

This also makes it difficult for the doctors who specialize in these matters, particularly in attempting to find the best approach to encourage the child to speak the accurate truth, something that would be beneficial in testimony. Children can be easily coaxed and intimidated, so, even in a comfortable atmosphere, children will most likely reveal whatever they feel that would resolve the situation more quickly. There is no getting around the fear factor, particularly in attempting to encourage the child to understand his or her experiences.

In my opinion, I feel children do understand to a certain extent, but they are unable to process the information logically until later on in life, most likely not until they have developed the ability to reason clearly on their own.

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I think it completely depends on the child. like their maturity, etc. IMO, when a young child is confronted with something like this, I would think that yes, they would be scared, but that they would tell the truth. Depending on the age of the child, I think it would be difficult for them to sustain any kind of lie (again, this depends on the child)

And there also has to be a distinction into what kinds of cases the child would be testifying in. I doubt very much they would last in say, a murder trial. The cross-examination would absulutly tear them apart i think. So yea, its a hard call. Id say it depends on circumstances, of both the case and the child, and the childs involvement (relation) to the case or the people involved.

eye witness testimony, especially that of children, doesnt hold up in court much anymore. pyschologists have pretty much proven that even if people are witness to a crime, they cant provide hard evidence to a description of it.

eye witness testimony, especially that of children, doesnt hold up in court much anymore. pyschologists have pretty much proven that even if people are witness to a crime, they cant provide hard evidence to a description of it.


read the book "Law and Psychology". it says that very same thing.

people are terrible at recounting events and details, yet our court says that "eye witness testimony" is the best evidence.....when actually, physical evidence is best. :biggrin:

read the book "Law and Psychology". it says that very same thing.

people are terrible at recounting events and details, yet our court says that "eye witness testimony" is the best evidence.....when actually, physical evidence is best. :biggrin:

They did an experiment in my Human Bio class in HS. Without warning, in the middle of class, a masked man with a foam bat ran in, grabbed a student, whacking him with the bat as he ran from the room.

We were then asked to write down our own description of the attacker, without talking to anyone else. It was scary how much the descriptions differed.

With children it would be even worse, because not only are they just as bad at remembering stuff in stressful situations, but they also will tell you what they think you want to hear.

Interesting case a few years back here in NZ. Was justice served? Doubt if we can ever be certain.

http://www.peterellis.org.nz/Interviews/index.htm

Take for instance, that a five yr old child in in the room when she is being brutely raped, while watching the father bleed to death from the stab wound to the chest. Then the sicko turns to the child and tells the child I will be watching you and if you tell on me I will find you.

Now, this does happen, but I do not currently have any documents to show, or that of news articles, but this sityation would be no doubt tramadic.

After all is said and done, the suspect is caught and the child may have to face the sicko whether it be vi Satilite or that of face to face.
The only witness able to speak is that of the child. That child will in deed be a witness for the DA.

Sad, but True. Good song too, but it states what I wass getting at.

The problem is that with the size of our legal system anything is possible so we have to have something on the books that will be best in the majority of situations and I think that 7/10 kids are not reliable sources so we should never depend on them for evidence

Exactly, I agree with you Honda.