Eye witnesses are a nightmare for me cause they’re so believable. Everyone believes they saw what they say they saw. Even if we read tons of stories in newspapers about some guy getting out of prison after 30 years because some DNA proved that he couldn’t be the guy the eyewitness id’d. Even though we see these reports over and over – you put an eyewitness up there and he says “He’s the guy!” pointing at my client and the jury is going to convict.
Recently in trial – liquor store robbery with guns and a shootout. The witness who is in the shootout says he saw everything, everything down to minute details about how my guy looked.
I ask. “How’s your vision?”
Without hesitation – “Perfect.”
But it looks like one of his eyes is higgly so I ask –
“Is something wrong with your right eye?”
“My right eye? Yeah, it’s a prosthetic.”
