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Mistaken identity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (498 words) |
 | Mistaken identity is a defense in criminal law which claims the actual innocence of the criminal defendant, and attempts to undermine evidence of guilt by asserting that any eyewitness to the crime incorrectly thought that they saw the defendant, when in fact the person seen by the witness was someone else. |
| The defendant may question both the memory of the witness (suggesting, for example, that the identification is the result of a false memory), and the perception of the witness (suggesting, for example, that the witness had poor eyesight, or that the crime occurred in a poorly lit place). |
| Although scientific studies have shown that mistaken identity is a common phenomenon, jurors give very strong credence to eyewitness testimony, particularly where the eyewitness is resolute in believing that their identification of the defendant was correct. |
| Mistaken Identity in Shakespeare's Comedies (1087 words) |
| The difficulty in maintaining a disguise or hidden identity is shown in the desire to say and experience things in the one identity than can only be accomplished by the alter identity which compounds the verbal comedy in the mistaken meanings of what is being said. |
| As indicated earlier, that is the primary thrust of a mistaken identity plot. |
| Although the identity of the major characters is not "mistaken" to each other (with the exception of the deliberate use of disguise by Portia and her maid), the identities of Shylock and Antonio compare in such a way that there can be a response from the reader/viewer probing the appearance vs. reality idea. |
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