Weapon Focus Effect and Jennifer Thompson

This week we cover a famous case in which those involved in the story themselves travel together to discuss the implications of their case. What is the weapons focus effect, and how can it change an innocent man's life forever?

Definition:

https://www.college.police.uk/research/projects/effect-visual-distractors-weapon-focus-effect-eyewitness-memory#:~:text=One phenomenon that has been,the individual holding the weapon.

In academia:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10545598/#:~:text=E. F.-,Loftus et al.,when he held a check.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10545598/#CR67

In a criminal case:

https://innocenceproject.org/cases/ronald-cotton/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dna/etc/script.html

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/the-perfect-witness

Photos:

https://www.kepplerspeakers.com/speakers/picking-cotton

https://www.alamy.com/ronald-cotton-right-is-shown-in-this-1984-police-photo-following-his-arrest-on-rape-charges-in-burlington-nc-cotton-was-convicted-of-the-rape-of-jennifer-thompson-in-january-1985-eleven-years-later-he-was-released-from-prison-after-dna-testing-showed-that-bobby-poole-left-pictured-in-a-1985-police-photo-actually-committed-the-crime-burlington-police-department-via-ap-image509086492.html

https://klau.nd.edu/news-events/news/jennifer-thompson-the-concentric-circles-of-harm/