Making Memories More Credible

Just last week NBC announced news anchor Brian Williams would be suspended without pay for six months after he admitted falsely reporting some of his war coverage.  There’s no denying Williams was never in a helicopter brought down by a rocket, but he had been perpetuating the story for years.

Though there is no way to truly know why Williams changed or made up the story, the fact is people often have their own version of events that aren’t exactly lies - but aren't the truth, either.  There’s a psychology to how we remember events – particularly traumatic ones.  Although many of us aren’t trying to falsely construct our own versions of events or embellish what happened, studies show perspective and time can change how you recount a memory.

This can be particularly troublesome during depositions or testimony when the witness is trying to remember events that happened months or years before.  The plaintiff’s version is likely skewed by trauma and emotion, while defense witnesses may have a hard time remembering details given the passage of time.  So what are you to do when neither side is intentionally lying?

We often find during focus groups that jurors are quick to judge short clips of testimony based on how the witness remembers the events.  For example, they might negatively judge hospital caregivers who don’t have specific memory of a patient, since jurors believe that lack of memory equates to lack of compassion.  Conversely, a plaintiff with specific and emotional recollection might be considered more truthful simply because they display strong conviction in their beliefs.

In order to avoid misinterpreted memories or inaccurate reporting of facts, it is important to make sure your witness distinguishes between memory and fact.  Though many jurors believe lawsuits and the incidents leading up to them are uncommon and therefore the events should be particularly memorable, they need to have the context that for many defendants, these events took place in the course of their job and the unfortunate fact is they are more common than typically believed.

When recalling events, it is important to remind the witness to take their time, review records and ensure they are accurately recalling something.  We have found witnesses to be perceived as more credible if they take their time and speak confidently based on the facts in front of them – including records and contemporaneous notes.  Also, a witness who speaks with an appropriate level of feeling will likely be better received than one who provides only a cold recitation of dates and times.

If you believe you have a witness that could benefit from a boost in confidence or needs some assistance telling their story on the stand, contact Senior Vice President Claire Luna at cluna@juryimpact.net or 714.754.1010.