Cases Where Eyewitnesses Were Right

[Mike82]

It's practically a broken record among this and all similar forums to say that eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable and I couldn't agree more. There are too many cases to mention where they were flat out wrong and in some cases led directly to wrongful convictions. However, there are also occasions where eyewitnesses were bang on and helped solved the case.

What are some examples of cases where you believe the eyewitnesses got it right? The first that comes to mind is the disappearance of Trisha Autry, where I believe the Welcome Mart clerk was 100% correct.

[ghosthouse]

Jeez I don't even think the Trisha Autry witness was right. UM is awash with eyewitnesses that were wrong - i'm not even sure i can remember one off the top of my head that was right when they said they saw a missing person.

[mozartpc27]

Originally Posted by ghosthouse

Jeez I don't even think the Trisha Autry witness was right. UM is awash with eyewitnesses that were wrong - i'm not even sure i can remember one off the top of my head that was right when they said they saw a missing person.

I think this is the sort of thing eyewitnesses tend not to be right about - when they talk themselves into the idea that they see someone they don't actually know at all, based solely on a photo from, say, a missing persons poster. When someone says they saw someone they know, or is asked if they saw someone who the police can already establish was in a particular area and so it is not just a random association, eyewitnesses are much more likely to provide valuable information.

[TheCars1986]

The little girl who saw Roger Dean's killer, who investigators dismissed her identification of a black man because of shadows from neighborhood trees.

[Jon]

Shirley from the Dana Satterfield case, my all-time favorite UM eyewitness, was right on the money in her description of the suspect.