You may not be that unique but if your memory is that crisp and accurate I do think you'd be the exception and not the rule. I've been following "true crime" cases since I was about 11 years old (so, over 40 years) and one of the things that is a pretty much globally agreed on issue in criminal cases, is that eye witness testimony is incredibly unreliable, for a wide variety of reasons (as ellie b pointed out). Even among those who are not prone to lying to themselves and others, how the brain processes things in a high tension/traumatic moment may not always be how things actually happened. I don't have any links handy but I've read numerous studies over the years on this especially in the area of child abuse (adult survivors primarily). It's really a rather fascinating field of study.
That said, I'm not at all surprised or think it's any kind of CYA when some of these witnesses from DM's circle say things like "I can't remember" or "I don't know". While they may in fact be in CYA mode, it's rather reasonable to assume they really can't remember certain details about specific days or conversations, or what kind of "mood" someone was in on a certain day 3 years ago. This is pretty common for most people. However, once you toss in drugs use, alcohol use, the fact that you've been involved with crimes with the accused in the past, and the fact you just learned he killed a man and stole his truck, the trauma (emotional - on the brain) of the events surrounding those few days in May of 2013 would really do a number on your memory. Which is really good then, that we have statements given at the time, to help these guys remember what they said then, compared to what they recall now.
moo.
