need some help on last para of essay. why is eye witness testimonies reliable?
thanks!
Eye-witness testimonies are more reliable because it is assumed that these witnesses saw whatever the incident was, and assuming that they reported it in speech or in prose correctly?
Most eye-witnesses questioned happen to be at the scene in question at the time without motive. (Some investigation needs to be done to ensure that this person is unrelated to any of the people involved in the crimes.) As such, their testimonies are usually expected to be truthful because it is unlikely that they would have any motive for doing so.
Also, as they have personally witnessed these events, a firsthand account from them would most likely be reliable and undistorted by a chain of communication as in the instance where a person claims X told him that his wife said that her mom saw a man smashing a beer bottle, for example.