MEMORY IN THE COURTROOM

Katherine Puddifoot (Durham University), Deryn Strange (John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY))

MEMORY IN THE COURTROOM (Monday the 7th June, 1pm Buenos Aires)

Deryn Strange (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, US): Memory on trial.

Abstract: Memory is a feature of almost all criminal trials, but where it is the only evidence—as in historical claims of abuse—more of a spotlight is required on those memories to ensure the fair administration of justice. In this talk, I will discuss the research on how false memories can be created. I will also provide examples on how I have applied that work to criminal and civil cases where I have served as an expert witness. Finally, I will draw attention to the research questions that the field still needs to answer. 

Katherine Puddifoot (Durham University, UK): Credibility Deficits, Memory Errors and the Criminal Trial.

Abstract: Work on testimonial injustice has highlighted how people can suffer credibility deficits—being given less credibility than they would otherwise—due to their social identity. The focus of attention in this previous work has been on how prejudice can lead to credibility deficits that involve significant epistemic and practical harms. In this talk, I show how similar effects can be produced in the absence of prejudice, as a result of stereotypes colliding with misleading evidence about the reliability and sincerity of testifiers in criminal trials. The credibility deficit occurs due to jurors or judges responding inappropriately to memory errors, which are taken to provide evidence of untrustworthiness or unreliability when they really occur due to the ordinary operation of cognitive systems that in fact support the testifier being good at providing high quality testimony. I emphasise how members of certain social groups, already stereotyped as untrustworthy or unreliable, are especially likely to suffer this type of credibility deficit due to the operation of stereotypes relating to their social identity.