Evidence to Convict?

[GUBU]

RR, are you aware that a woman can be raped face to face by a man, and STILL pick the wrong guy out of the line-up?  Do you realize that innocent men have gone to prison for YEARS because of this reliance on the witnesses testimony alone?  I mean, what more damning evidence could there be for a man accused of rape than the rape victim identifying her attacker, right?  Human memory simply cannot be trusted, and more witnesses does not necessarily mean higher recall accuracy.

Yes I am aware of those... and as I have stated previously, I agree completely with the issues of identifying a stranger, and urging caution even with believed certainty in identification.  I do think it is different, if the person knows the accused prior though.

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I work in a police station, as a civilian clerical officer.

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A lot of my work is the taking in of reports from the Sergeant I/C's office either for decision by the Superintendent or Inspector (whichever one is in the office doing signing duties that day) or for onward transmission to Thurles to keep the Chief Supt appraised of ongoing investigations (she always wants to know about major incidents, incidents where members are hurt doing their duty or allegations of child abuse. Apart from that she keeps an eye out for slow moving investigations), or for transmission to the state solicitor so that the Director of Public Prosecutions can make a direction on whether a criminal charge can be brought, and if so to what level of court. As a result I get to read a lot of summary and full investigation reports.

One thing that is universal, every case the investigating member has to establish evidence other than witness testimony, whether CCTV, photographic or even forensic if they wish the case not to be sent back down to them with a scathing rebuke. Testimony, even of members of An Garda Síochána, is not enough on its own to bring a case to court, never mind getting a conviction. About the only exception to this is in historical allegations, where witness testimony comes from a good number of sources and the details given can be matched up and verified independently of the witnesses (e.g. if an address was given, ensuring that the s/o either lived at or had free access to that address at that time). And even with those kinds of cases, I can see from the investigation files that every effort possible will be made to trace physical evidence aside from the testimony.

Given that, I am fairly confident that Road Runner's scenario would make it as far as the Superintendent's office before being sent down to be marked as inactive pending the finding or submission of some actual evidence that a crime took place. Yes, it would be thoroughly investigated before this decision, but given what he is saying it would go no further.

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Interesting... do you mind if I ask where you live (being as generic as you like of course)?

Live in Limerick work in Clonmel. Yes, yes I know the Irish justice system is somewhat different than the US one (but with both being common law not by that much) but the number of cases where you go to court on testimony alone is vanishingly small (at least in countries which work by the rule of law).