LSAT 115 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q13

LR Question 13 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Nearly every criminal trial includes eyewitness testimony…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen – Exception

CONCLUSION: Psychologists believe that misidentification by eyewitnesses is a common cause of mistaken convictions.

REASONING: We’re told that eyewitnesses are present at nearly every criminal trial.

ANALYSIS: We’re not given much information in this stimulus. Any answer choice which shows why eyewitnesses could be wrong will not be correct. Any answer choice which shows why the risk of error from eyewitnesses is lower will be correct.

___________

1. Not only are eyewitnesses present, but their testimony is very important. This strengthens the argument. If their testimony weren’t important, they could hardly be the cause of most mistaken convictions.
2. This shows they cannot always reliably identify a criminal.
3. This also lowers the reliability of eyewitness testimony.
4. CORRECT. Judges can mitigate the risks of unreliable witnesses. This weakens the psychologist’s argument: jury run a smaller risk of being mislead.
5. So juries are very likely to believe unreliable witnesses and falsely convict.

Recap: The question begins with “Nearly every criminal trial includes eyewitness testimony”. It is a Strengthen question. Learn how to master LSAT Strengthen questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.