Adversarial allegiance: The devil is in the evidence details, not just on the witness stand.

ABSTRACT: This study examined the potential influence of adversarial allegiance on expert testimony in a simulated child sexual abuse case. A national sample of 100 witness suggestibility experts reviewed a police interview of an alleged 5-year-old female victim. Retaining party (prosecution, defense) and interview suggestibility (low, high) varied across experts. Experts were very willing to testify, but more so for the prosecution than the defense when interview suggestibility was low and vice versa when interview suggestibility was high. Experts' anticipated testimony focused more on prodefense aspects of the police interview and child's memory overall (negativity bias), but favored retaining party only when interview suggestibility was low. Prosecution-retained experts shifted their focus from p

SUBMITTER: McAuliff BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5036989 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature