Self-study
P1
Leading questions—questions worded in such a way as to suggest a particular answer—can yield unreliable testimony either by design, as when a lawyer tries to trick a witness into affirming a particular version of the evidence of a case, or by accident, when a questioner unintentionally prejudices the witness's response. ███
Problem ·
Leading questions
Can produce unreliable testimony.
Solution ·
Judge can disallow leading questions in the courtroom
Problem ·
Leading questions outside the courtroom
A witness's beliefs can be affected by leading questions asked by lawyers, police, reporters, or others before the witness gets in the courtroom.
P2
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Details of problem ·
New "facts" that don't conflict with memories can become part of memories
If the new "facts" correspond with our memory, they'll be interpreted as reinforcing our memory. If the new "facts" involve a gap in our memory, we may use them to fill in the gap.
Example ·
"How fast was the car going when it passed the stop sign?"
The witness may not have seen a stop sign, but when asked this question, may falsely recall seeing one.
P3
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Details of problem ·
Farther removed from event, more tangential detail -> higher chance new "fact" blends with original memory
Significance of problem ·
Tangential details can be critical in the courtroom
Example: Suspect's shirt color or hairstyle might be tangential to witness of robbery. But these are critical to identifying the correct suspect. These kinds of details are exactly the kind susceptible to influence from leading questions.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
21.
It can be reasonably inferred ████ ███ ███████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ██ ████ ███████████ ████████████ █████ ████ ████████ ███ ███████ ████████ ███████ ██ ███████ ███████ █████████ ████ ███████ ████████ █████ ██████████
a
a policy ensuring ████ █████████ ████ █████ ████ ██ ██████ █████████ ██████████ ███████ ████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ████████ ███████████ ██ ██████
We have no reason to think more time to answer a question would reduce the chance of a mistaken court decision. Nothing in the passage suggests a witness is less likely to testify inaccurately about a memory if they have more time to answer.
b
thorough revision of ███ ████████ ███ ███████████ █████ █████ ██ █████████████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██ █████████ █████████ █████ ███ ████████ ██ ████████ ██████████
The problem is leading questions outside a courtroom. A solution that relates to leading testimony in the courtroom doesn’t address the problem.
c
increased attention to ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████ █████████ ██ █████████ ██████████ ████ █████ ████ ███ ███ ███████ █████████
The problem is leading questions outside a courtroom. Paying more attention to what the witness says in the courtroom doesn’t address the problem.
d
extensive interviewing of █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ███ ████ █████ ██ █ ████ █████ ██ █████ ██████████ █████████ ██████████
More interviewing doesn’t necessarily reduce the chance of leading questions outside the courtroom negatively impacting the trial and court decisions. More interviewing might even exacerbate the problem if the lawyers conducting the interviews outside court use leading questions.
e
availability of accurate ███████████ ██ ███ ██████████████ ██ █████████ ████ ████████ █████ ██ █████ ██████████ ██████████ ██ █████
This is the best answer. A transcript of all interrogations outside the courtroom can at least allow us to see whether any leading questions were asked outside the courtroom. This might not completely reduce the impact of those leading questions, but at least the judge and/or jury can assess whether parts of the witnesses’ testimony has been influenced by leading questions.