their eyes. Moreover, the tests
performed on school and college graduates in regard to their powers of
observation have shown the fallibility of human perception. The
failure to perceive, plus the failure to remember, plus inadequacy of
language, makes all testimony unsatisfactory. People of little
education are still less able to either see or explain. The only safe
way is to obtain a composite photograph of the witness's mind and of
the thoughts that arise from the original perception, a continuation
of impressions.

Judges or juries never determine cases by first deciding which witness
is telling the truth or at least the exact truth. They take it for
granted that both sides are lying somewhat; that no matter how well
they mean and how hard they try, all witnesses are incapable of
telling the exact truth. The unfortunate part of the law is that this
is not officially recognized. There is a hypocrisy in not recognizing
the inadequacy of human eyes and ears to grasp even simple concrete
facts. A timidity exists that will not allow the admission of human
imperfection.

The proof of this is that when three witnesses go on the stand and
describe a thing as having happened in the same way, immediately there
is a strong doubt in the mind of the jury about the whole case.
Suppose the question of the time a crime was committed arises and the
defense tries to prove an alibi by showing the defendant was in a
saloon at that time. There may have been three witnesses who really
saw him at the same time. One witness comes on the stand and says
3:10, the next witness says he saw him at 3:10, and third says the
same. The jury conclude that the story has been made up.

Yet suppose the first witness says he saw him sometime after lunch,
and the second that he remembers seeing the defendant in the saloon
sometime that day, but he is not sure whether it was in the morning or
the afternoon, and the third witness says that he saw him during the
week, but that he does not remember the day, whether a Thursday or a
Friday--it is probable that the defendant will have a much better
chance of succeeding with his alibi.

The lady in the car could not remember the time of the day, except
that it was near the children's bed time. She had heard the crash and
seen the wagon turn on to the car tracks. With a great many
objections she finally gets to the point of the crash.

"Did you see the car hit the wagon?" "I object to that as leading,"
sa