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Jurors Aren't Human Lie Detectors

This has been a common theme at Crime & Federalism: One of the most important take aways from his book is that there are no definitive signs of deceit itself, only clues that the emotions don?t fit the lines. Though most people are not good lie detectors, I will limit my discussion to jurors.  Jurors will swear that a witness is lying because he was wringing his hands or he looked away when answering a question.  Consider the stress a witness may be under: It could be a first time testifying; it could be her role in the case is large and she feels her job is at risk; it could be an emotional piece of testimony.  There are many reasons for hand wringing and eye diversion and the majority of them don?t signal lying. Now consider the hand wringing comes simultaneously with an expert witness? testimony, someone who has testified before and has little vested interest in the outcome...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on April 03, 2009 (boomark / email).