“MEMORY MANIPULATION AND CRIMINAL TRIALS”
AUTHOR – A. SANJEEV PRATHAP* & PACHAMUTHU**
* STUDENT AT VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & ADVANCED STUDIES (VISTAS)
** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT SCHOOL OF LAW, VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED STUDIES (VISTAS)
BEST CITATION – A. SANJEEV PRATHAP & PACHAMUTHU, “MEMORY MANIPULATION AND CRIMINAL TRIALS”, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (7) OF 2026, PG. 657-662, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I771
ABSTRACT
Human memory is a vital component of the criminal trial where testimony, victim statements and confessions have proven to be causes of wrongful conviction and acquittal. Studies from cognitive psychology and neuroscience indicate that memory is a reconstructive and not recorded process, which means it can be changed and distorted. This paper examines how memory alteration affects the criminal justice system, including the admissibility and evidential value of witness, victim and suspect accounts, procedural due process, and the problem of false conviction.
This paper will explore how memory alteration can take place due to interviewing techniques and investigations. More specifically it will examine how interrogation can distort memory through questions designed to implant suggestions, how misleading information can have an impact on memories through the application of suggestive line ups and how external suggestion, during a police interrogation for example, can cause the witness’ account and the memory they are referencing to be flawed. By using a cross-discipline approach involving psychology, neuroscience and legal theory this research highlights that witness confidence may be the result of stimuli other than that originally witnessed.
The traditional view of the credibility of an eyewitness’ testimony in a legal system and its conflict with that shown through science and evidence, will be analyzed. An examination of how an expert on the science of memory has been received by the courts, the limitations put in place on interrogations and safeguards applied to identification proceedings and standards placed on eyewitness evidence all demonstrate how existing protections are not enough to combat the fallibility of memory when applied with a significant reliance upon the reliability of an eyewitness to events.
The article will also discuss the reforms introduced in certain jurisdictions in contrast with the traditional view of eyewitness testimony within the criminal justice system. Specifically the impact of changes such as the reform of identification procedures and recording of interrogations and the addition of jury instructions regarding the process of remembering will be assessed. All of this is to determine the impact of scientific evidence within the criminal justice system and to provide models for future reform.
In conclusion, for the criminal justice system to ensure a fair trial based on accuracy, the fallibility of human memory must be taken into account. By adhering to research in the relevant sciences and implementing scientific findings within the criminal justice system the number of false convictions can be decreased while promoting the accuracy and validity of procedures and processes. The nexus between memory science and the criminal justice system offer’s promising areas for additional legal reform and scholarly research.