NEW YORK TIMES: …Contrary to what Mr. O’Grady said, the man who was shot had not been trying to get away from the officers; he was actually chasing an officer from the sidewalk onto Eighth Avenue, swinging a hammer at her head. Behind both was the officer’s partner, who shot the man, David Baril.
And Ms. Khalsa did not see Mr. Baril being shot while in handcuffs; he is, as the video and still photographs show, freely swinging the hammer, then lying on the ground with his arms at his side. He was handcuffed a few moments later, well after he had been shot…
These are not the knowingly untrue or devious statements of people who are deliberately lying. False memories can be as persuasive as genuine ones, Dr. [Elizabeth] Loftus said: “When someone expresses it with detail and confidence and emotion, people are going to believe it.” … (more)
EDITOR: How many innocent people languish in jail or have received the death penalty duke to ‘eye witness’ testimony that was incorrect? How often have we been misled by our own ‘observations’?
This is another of those very important articles that never make the front pages of any newspaper, even the New York Times. It appeared at the top of Page A21.
