Suppose that Danielle was an eyewitness to a store robbery. She gives the police a description of the criminal: "30-35-year-old male, brown hair, light eyes, about 6 feet, with a missing finger on his left hand." A few weeks later, the police track down a suspect. He fits Danielle's description and additionally has a lazy eye and a huge tattoo on his neck. If the police use the match-to-culprit approach in constructing a lineup for eyewitness identification, then the fillers in the lineup ____.
A)may or may not have brown hair
B)will definitely have brown hair but may or may not be missing fingers
C)will definitely have brown hair and missing fingers but may or may not have a tattoo
D)will definitely have brown hair, missing fingers, and a tattoo

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In the match-to-culprit approach, the fillers should match the description given by the eyewitness. Since Danielle described the criminal as having brown hair and a missing finger, the fillers should have these characteristics. The tattoo is an additional feature of the suspect, not part of the original description, so it is not necessary for the fillers.

Suppose That Danielle Was an Eyewitness to a Store Robbery