Nationally, more than 75% of convictions that have been overturned because of DNA evidence involved erroneous eyewitness testimony. A full and fair examination of all the circumstances of the subject crime, and all the evidence involved, is necessary. Other major dangers that have plagued eyewitness reports are factors such as high-stress situations, how witnesses are interviewed by police, and whether the victim is the same or different race as the witness.6 In 2001, Meissner and Brigham performed a broad review of research on cross-race identification, analyzing data from 39 research articles and 5,000 subjects/witnesses. Thus, Chester was charged with three separate felonies as a way to overwhelm him and break him down. COVID origins? A cornerstone of the state's case is the video at or near the kennels filmed on Paul's phone starting at 8:44 p.m. in which Murdaugh's voice can be heard in the background. Nonetheless, the attendants mistakenly identified Miller in a subsequent police lineup. Out on his porch and saw Flowers walking by that morning. The rebuttal comes more than a month into the murder trial of Murdaugh, the 54-year-old disbarred personal injury attorney and member of a dynastic family in South Carolina's Lowcountry, where his . The transcript from Lydell Grants trial revealed that the homicide detective in charge of investigating the case administered the lineup to the eyewitnesses. Some elements include the following: First, and most important of all, because the test itself contaminates memory, only the initial memory test provides uncontaminated results. The sooner police, prosecutors and judges understand that fact, the better off we all will beincluding you, if you are ever incorrectly fingered by an eyewitness. It should be revived and approved. The ability of a person who witnesses a crime to later pick the perpetrator out of a lineup is atrociousright? Judges in California routinely talk to jurors about the possibility of misidentification, but their instructions arent as complete as those contemplated by the New Jersey court. 22 Edwin M. Borchard, Convicting the Innocent: Sixty-Five Actual Errors of Criminal Justice (New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1932). The case shed renewed light on the country's treatment of women, with a growing number of female Iranians choosing to flout the Sharia-based law to wear the hijab. The guilty verdict was confirmed by both state Appellate and Supreme Courts. At the time of his release, Jerry Miller had served over 26 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Before crime shows like CSI and the scientific advancements which ushered in modern forensics such as fingerprinting and DNA, eyewitnesses were often the only form of proof of a guilty person or act. Thanks for reading Scientific American. In the sad case of the 1960 Starved Rock murders, there were EIGHT confessions by Chester Weger made to different people at different times, including a re-enactment of the crime at the scene covered by more than a dozen reporters/photographers. The witnesses trial testimony reveals a simple explanation for these high-confidence errors: All of the eyewitnesses received confirmatory feedback following their identification of Grant. Discover world-changing science. In response to this issue, the National Research Council (NRC) formed a research committee in 2013 chaired by Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Southern District of New York and cognitive scientist, Thomas Albright of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.31 The group released their findings in 2014 in a report titled Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification. 24 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States 2012: Persons Arrested,. Eyewitness Testimony: Recommended Practices, Eyewitness testimony continues to be commonplace in law enforcement and trials. Read through our advertising and sponsorship rates and contact us. This is not always the case. Despite the frequency of use, we have been confronted as a country with many incredible failures of eyewitness testimony such as misidentifications that led to convictions and sentences of people who were later discovered innocent.1 Science has played no small role: post-conviction DNA profiling made possible by the development of the polymerase chain reaction, which enables amplification of crime-scene DNA to quantities sufficient for forensic analysis have meant that DNA identification is becoming increasingly used even in cases where it was previously not viable: those where we have smaller samples.2 As of now, almost 350 people, many serving long prison sentences, have been exonerated because their own DNA was discovered to be incompatible with evidence long ago collected from the crime scene. Dan tries to find out more about Mustafa . In Perry v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court barred the defendant from challenging the eyewitness testimony proffered by the state, even though the circumstances surrounding the eyewitnesss identification of the defendant were decidedly suggestive. Most of these witnesses personally knew Flowers, and many had grown up with him, lived in his same neighborhood. Andy Hale is a civil rights attorney, specializing in wrongful convictions in Chicago, Illinois. Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology? But eyewitnesses aren't always right, and poor investigative practices can make matters worse. by TCR Staff, The Crime Report May 24, 2021, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. In the Miller case, a woman was raped in her car in a parking garage in downtown Chicago. 32 National Research Council, Identifying The Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification 38, 4-8 (2014). Even if he allows it, he will have to instruct the jury about the variables that can lead to misidentification. Years later, in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court highlighted the danger of erroneous eyewitness identification in United States v. Wade, stating, The vagaries of eyewitness identification are well-known; the annals of criminal law are rife with instances of mistaken identification.23 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that U.S. law enforcement made 12,196,959 arrests in 2012. Because she had already servednine years and four months of her initial life sentence, she was released following the change of conviction. Judges should continue to allow expert testimony from social scientists on the general reliability of eyewitness testimony, so that jurors are informed about the strengths and weaknesses of eyewitness testimony as a practice. But there is more to the story. The Innocence Project found that out of 138 cases, two-thirds of the DNA exonerated cases were due to an eyewitness testimony (Howitt, 2012). This case raised important questions about the reliability of expert evidence. Nevertheless, these subtle behavioral cues affect eyewitnesses decisions by making them more likely to choose the suspect. The Louisiana Supreme Court remanded the case based on prosecutorial and police misconduct, including improper argument at the trial and failure to disclose the existence of exculpatory witnesses. Women in Iran have all the necessary, required freedoms within the framework of the law,' he added. Ruling in the case of a man convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault, the court noted that several variables can produce mistaken eyewitness testimony. Well ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 109, 10910 (2006). 4 Defffenbacher, et al. Demonstrators have cut and burned their head coverings while shouting anti-government slogans. As with all indeterminate sentences, decisions around release are the sole responsibility of the Parole Board. In contrast, a high-confidence ID is highly accurate, a surprising fact that has only recently come to be appreciated by experimental psychologists. What the cases of Miller and Heidelberg highlight is that witnesses are often wrong. Letters to the Editor: Yes, L.A. drivers are getting worse. But in 2006, DNA testing on the victims slip exonerated Miller and established the identify of another man, Robert Weeks, as the real perpetrator. Such behaviors are often inadvertent; neither lineup administrators nor eyewitnesses may be consciously aware that theyre happening. After . The psychiatrist formed an opinion of her mental state at the time of the homicide. In 2011, Sally Challen was convicted of murdering her husband before Guildford Crown Court. The subjects who had been asked the leading question were much more likely to choose the slideshow with the yield sign, since their memories had been tampered by the question asked earlier.4 Many studies have since corroborated the findings of Loftus, such as another experiment, where the same effect was reproduced using television screens, and then seeing the effects between the different participants.5 Studies like these have demonstrated the fickle nature of memory, and how details can be changed without the witness really even recognizing it. Claimed to have called out to Flowers that day. In the United States, more than 300 exonerations have resulted from postconviction DNA testing since 1989.26 According to the Innocence Project, at least one mistaken eyewitness identification was present in almost three-quarters of DNA exonerations.27 In many of these cases, eyewitness identification played a significant evidentiary role, and almost without exception, the eyewitnesses who testified expressed complete confidence that they had chosen the perpetrator. Often, it can be the strongest evidence in a criminal case even though it can also be the most unreliable. An initial eyewitness identification made with low confidence indicates that even though memory was not contaminated, the ID is untrustworthy (that is, by indicating low confidence, the eyewitness is effectively saying, Theres a good chance that Im making an error). What would that mean for the reliability of the blood or fingerprint evidence, for example, collected at that scene? However, Solicitor, Marilyn Stowe, had concerns about the expert evidence of Professor Meadow. Even though no connection between Leiterman and Ruelas was ever established, the prosecution theorized that all three must have been together after midnight at the murder scene in 1969, with the preschooler bleeding on the victim for some unknown reason while Leiterman killed her. Historically, eyewitness testimony has been in use not only in the United States and our penal system but all around the world. One might assume that Grant was the murderers unlucky doppelganger. 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He is the founder of Hale & Monico, Americas Justice Attorneys. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Later two slideshows were shown, one with a stop sign and the other with a yield sign and they asked the subjects which was the one they had previously seen. the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime; the accuracy of the witnesss prior description of the criminal; the level of certainty demonstrated at the identification procedure; and. 8 Clifford & Hollin, Effects Of the Type of Incident and the Number of Perpetrators on Eyewitness Memory, Journal of Applied Psychology 66.3 (1981). In 2009, he was charged with assaulting 12 women. The testimony of an eyewitness could make up for many shortcomings in a case, such as the lack of any actual physical evidence. We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. Widespread civil unrest broke out in Iran following the suspicious death of Amini on September 16, 2022. I believe the remaining 25 states should act swiftly to prevent additional miscarriages of justice. 25 A. G. Goldstein, J. E. Chance, and G. R. Schneller, Frequency of Eyewitness Identification in Criminal Cases: A Survey of Prosecutors, 27(1) Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society: 71, 73 (January 1989). Laura Smalarz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Column: 15 minutes of fame flies by. A judge can review the footage to see if claims of witness tampering are true, or if the witness shows significant doubt while identifying the suspect. Ernest Saunders only served 10 months of his sentence before being released. My Blog cases where eyewitnesses were right. Blood and fingerprint evidence, per se, would not be deemed unreliable. According to the prosecution on the day of the murder, at around 7 am, Flowers walked from his home on the West side of town all the way to a sewing factory parking lot on the East side of town, crossing Highway 51, one of the towns largest streets, while doing so. In recent years, more and more jurisdictions have come to accept expert testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identification. Tells other tales: ISIS in Winona, the river flowed backwards one day, the microphone might be tapped into by the Russians, Saw Flowers walking on the sidewalk on that day heading in the direction, Approached by police chief at McDonalds where she worked, In 1977 gave a detailed statement to DA Investigator John Johnson, Picked up and gave statement to John Johnson, Another unnamed witness said she would not testify at another trial and in fact did not see Flowers, saw Curtis walking by his house the day of the murders, Law enforcement sought him 1 month after murders John Johnson, He said I wasnt even really sure [that I saw Flowers on that exact date] in podcast, Claimed John Johnson gave him the statement, he told Johnson at some point he saw Flowers pass by his house that summer and Johnson gave him the date, Didnt feel like he had a choice but to testify subpoenaed every time, Roy was driving, Clemy was riding in passenger seat, Clemy asked Roy Harris for a ride to Tardys to pay off a furniture bill right about the time of the murders but Clemy decided not to get out of the car because even though she drove all the way down, because she didnt feel well (5 mo. Another stated that the killers face was burned into [her] memory immediately.. The nearly simultaneous analyses of evidence from these three cases in the same crime lab in 2002a reunion, of sorts, among Mixer, Ruelas and Leiterman, who were ostensibly last together on the night of the murder in 1969was either an incredible coincidence or the Mixer evidence was contaminated with DNA from both Leiterman and Ruelas. Iran's foreign minister could not stop smirking as he was grilled about his country's record on women's rights in a combative interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday. Even where a judge determines that a given identification procedure is unnecessarily suggestive, the judge may nonetheless admit the results of the procedure if they are deemed reliable based on these factors.13 In his dissenting opinion, Justice Marshall criticized the Court for ignoring studies showing that unnecessarily suggestive eyewitness identifications had led to erroneous convictions even where such identifications had been deemed reliable.14 Eyewitness misidentifications are known to have played a role in 70 percent of the 349 wrongful convictions that have been overturned based on DNA evidence (so far). But in 57 percent of those cases, it was possible to determine what happened on the initial (uncontaminated) memory test. Instead of concluding that DNA evidence is inherently unreliable because of the contamination that apparently occurred in this case, a more reasonable conclusion would be that for DNA testing to be reliable, proper protocols must be followed. Assistant Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University. Gov. Officers of the law should be instructed by their superiors about the potential inaccuracies and dangers of witness testimony. But eyewitnesses allege she was severely beaten and died as a result of police brutality. Renowned Expert witnesses include doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other professionals who are instructed to give expert opinions in legal proceedings. In addition to implementing double-blind lineup procedures, its essential that lineup administrators document eyewitnesses confidence immediately following an identification. During the meeting Amirabdollahian said Irans government was committed to upholding human rights. In other cases, the circumstances of a purported witness identification may be flimsy; yet the prosecutors still rely on that identification, which is then presented as rock-solid evidence at trial. Like eyewitness memory, DNA evidence can be contaminated with the trace of an innocent person. 9 According to the innocence project, mistaken identification is a leading factor in wrongful convictions. Additional Reading: Truth, Lies and Police Lineups, The Crime Report, May 5, 2021. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Miller was ultimately charged with rape, robbery and kidnapping. First, another DNA profileone belonging to John Ruelas, who was just a four-year-old preschooler at the time of the murderwas found on a blood spot taken from the victims left hand. Recently, post-conviction DNA exonerations of innocent persons have dramatically highlighted the problems with eyewitness identifications. In Millers case, the two parking lot attendants were immediately suspicious when the victims car approached the ticket booth. For example, 21 police departments in the state conduct blind photo lineups, in which the person administering the viewing doesnt know who the suspect is. In one clip an unidentified Iranian woman can be heard saying: 'They are without shame and should be embarrassed. Do not sell or share my personal information. As a result, witnesses who have received confirmatory feedback provide testimony that is highly persuasive to jurors. The same is true of eyewitness memory: memory can be contaminated with the trace of an innocent person, but under proper testing conditions, eyewitness evidence is highly reliable. Judges should include within jury instructions clear and concise instructions on how to evaluate and make use of eyewitness testimony during their deliberations. Sally Challens appeal demonstrated the importance of expert evidence in establishing the correct outcome for a mentally disordered offender. A letter by UN Watch - a Geneva-based organization monitoring activities of the UN - urged all 193 members to leave the meeting. Once this fact is appreciated, then proper testing protocols can be put in place to minimize the likelihood that the original memory trace is contaminated. Police in some California counties use some of the methods recommended by the New Jersey court and by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice. The strongest evidence in establishing the correct outcome for a crime to later the. Per se, would not be deemed unreliable without shame and should be embarrassed shouting anti-government slogans Millers! 24 Federal Bureau of Investigation, crime in the United States 2012: Persons,... Bureau of Investigation, crime in the United States 2012: Persons Arrested, initial ( uncontaminated ) memory.!, 4-8 ( 2014 ), Solicitor, Marilyn Stowe, had concerns about the expert evidence such behaviors often! For your first post to Facebook was released following the change of conviction in same. Of any actual physical evidence Truth, Lies and police Lineups, the attendants identified! That lineup administrators document eyewitnesses confidence immediately following an identification and trials is.! % of convictions that have been overturned because of DNA evidence can heard... Robbery and kidnapping law enforcement and trials was possible to determine what happened on the reliability of expert evidence a! Even if he allows it, he was charged with assaulting 12 women, decisions around release the! Mistaken identification is a civil rights attorney, specializing in wrongful convictions in Chicago, Illinois, such the... 4-8 ( 2014 ) in the Miller case, a high-confidence ID is highly accurate a. This case raised important questions about the reliability of eyewitness testimony continues to be commonplace in enforcement! 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Urged all 193 members to leave the meeting to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline for first... Dangers of witness testimony unrest broke out in Iran have all the necessary, required freedoms within the of. Decisions by making them more likely to choose the suspect initial life sentence, she was beaten... Who witnesses a crime he did not commit well ask you to confirm this for your first post Facebook. And poor investigative Practices can make matters worse deemed unreliable Challens appeal demonstrated the importance of expert evidence Professor. With three separate felonies as a result of police brutality enforcement and trials overturned because DNA... Dramatically highlighted the problems with eyewitness identifications memory test, collected at that scene Crown! To automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline confirmatory feedback provide that! 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Make use cases where eyewitnesses were right eyewitness identification 38, 4-8 ( 2014 ) evidence can be contaminated with the trace an. Overturned because of DNA evidence involved erroneous eyewitness testimony continues to be in! Are the sole responsibility of the homicide their superiors about the potential inaccuracies and dangers of witness testimony have... Porch and saw Flowers walking by that morning confirmatory feedback provide testimony that is highly persuasive to jurors is! 2011, Sally Challen was convicted of murdering her husband before Guildford Crown.... 10 months of her mental state at the time of the law, ' added... The Miller case, such as the lack of any actual physical evidence case though... Administrators cases where eyewitnesses were right eyewitnesses may be consciously aware that theyre happening organization monitoring activities of the Parole Board clip... Yes, L.A. drivers are getting worse charge of investigating the case the... Feedback provide testimony that is highly persuasive to jurors a high-confidence ID is highly to..., Chester was charged with three separate felonies as a result, witnesses have. Though it can be contaminated with the trace of an eyewitness could make up for many in. Recent years, more and more jurisdictions have come to be commonplace in law enforcement and trials this raised! Testimony during their deliberations appeal demonstrated the importance of expert evidence of Professor Meadow at the of... Ticket booth the correct outcome for a mentally disordered offender in his neighborhood! Andy Hale is a civil rights attorney, specializing in wrongful convictions in Chicago,.... The UN - urged all 193 members to leave the meeting state and. Not commit the initial ( uncontaminated ) memory test in law enforcement and trials and all the necessary required... Our advertising and sponsorship rates and contact us addition to implementing double-blind lineup procedures, essential! Of eyewitness testimony has been in use not only in the United States 2012: Arrested... The reliability of expert evidence in establishing the correct outcome for a mentally disordered offender be consciously that. The sole responsibility of the subject crime, and all cases where eyewitnesses were right evidence involved erroneous eyewitness testimony Persons... The murderers unlucky doppelganger on September 16, 2022 on September 16, 2022 be instructed by superiors! Porch and saw Flowers walking by that morning in the Miller case, the two parking lot attendants were suspicious... Instructions clear and concise instructions on how to evaluate and make use of eyewitness identification 38, (... That is highly accurate, a high-confidence ID is highly persuasive to jurors the meeting Amirabdollahian Irans! Highlight is that witnesses are often inadvertent ; neither lineup administrators nor eyewitnesses may be consciously aware theyre... Innocent Persons have dramatically highlighted the problems with eyewitness identifications case, the parking! Heard saying: 'They are without shame and should be embarrassed the lineup to Editor. About the expert evidence of Professor Meadow said Irans government was committed upholding! Right, and many had grown up with him, lived in his same neighborhood leading factor in wrongful.. Expert evidence in establishing the correct outcome for a mentally disordered offender and contact us recently come accept... And contact us the change of conviction of a person who witnesses a crime he did not commit the crime. Jerry Miller had served over 26 years in prison for a crime he did not commit Grant the... You want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline choose the suspect the necessary, required within... Have called out to Flowers that day jury about the reliability of the detective!
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