However, at the time of initial police lineups, most displayed a lack of confidence in their identifications. The eyewitnesses in those wrongful conviction cases, almost without exception, testified with complete certainty at the trials at which innocent people were convicted. One study examined defendants who spent an average of 15 years in prison only to have their convictions later overturned by DNA evidence. 3 Overly relying on courtroom confidence as a proxy for a person’s accuracy can have serious consequences in the criminal justice system. Yet, jurors may not focus on that lineup information, since the courtroom identification is more salient and dramatic. And if police have not used improper procedures, the witness may be relatively free from suggestion. The witness’s memory may be relatively recent. It is at that time that the witness actually does the cognitive work of making the identification. In contrast, the confidence of a witness at the time of an initial police lineup can provide valuable information about reliability. And yet, despite this rather obvious set up, it is a powerful moment when a witness confronts the accused and states, with confidence, that the defendant is the one who did it. A courtroom identification, of course, is not actually a reliable test of the witness’s memory of the crime itself: It is not difficult to see where the defendant had been sitting during the entire trial at counsel’s table, and the context predetermines that the witness will identify the defendant. A confident eyewitness is extremely powerful on the witness stand, and, in general, people place more weight on confident witnesses. Judges face the challenge of ensuring that lay jurors are not misled by eyewitness testimony at trial. 2 Here, I examine the role that poorly designed court procedures can play. As the National Academy of Sciences explained in an important 2014 report summarizing the scientific research on human visual memory, “it is well known that eyewitnesses make mistakes and that their memories can be affected by various factors including the very law enforcement procedures designed to test their memories.” 1 Researchers have shown how eyewitness misidentification results in conviction of the innocent - and revealed the role that poorly designed and suggestive police procedures can play. Eyewitness evidence, in which a witness visually identifies the culprit, is a staple of criminal investigations.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |