[shkkmo]

Eyewitnesses are potentially quite unreliable and the reliability can be heavily influenced by the stress level of the situation, relative racial experience of the witness (It's harder to recognize/differentiate members of an ethnicity you don't spend much time around), interview techniques and line-up methodology.

Yet eyewitness testimony is generally treated as highly accurate and some places do not allow expert witnesses who can educate the jury on the factors that can influence the reliability of eye witness testimony.