Sana Khadar

You are at a bus stop.

A young girl is dropped off not long after you're there.

And minutes later, an older woman comes by and gives the girl a bar of chocolate.

And then they walk off holding hands.

Did you just witness a crime?

The unsettling answer is you might not be able to tell.

And if you didn't recognize it as anything out of the usual at the time, how much of it will you be able to remember days, months, even years later?

On All in the Mind from ABC Radio National, I'm Sana Khadar, and this is part three of our special series, Forensic.

It's all about the psychological tools used to crack crimes, what works, what doesn't, and the surprising ways things can go wrong.

Today, eyewitness memory.

All in the Mind's senior producer James Bullen is here.

Hi, James.

So how often is eyewitness memory used in cases?

Okay, so it sounds like the stakes around eyewitness memory are really high.

But Celine Van Gold also mentioned that there are, you know, shortcomings here.

So what does that mean?

From ABC Radio National, you're listening to All In The Mind.

I'm Sana Khadar.

Today, reporter James Bullen is asking, how reliable is eyewitness testimony?

Okay.