Identifying the Culprit Assessing Eyewitness Identification (2014) / Chapter Skim
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6 Findings and Recommendations
6 Findings and Recommendations
Pages 103-120
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From page 103... ...
In the previous chapters, we described law enforcement procedures to elicit accurate eyewitness identifications; the courts' handling of eyewitness identification evidence; the science of visual perception and memory as it applies to eyewitness identifications; and the contributions of scientific research to our understanding of the variables that affect the accuracy of identifications. On the basis of its review, the committee offers its findings and recommendations for • identifying and facilitating best practices in eyewitness procedures for the law enforcement community; • strengthening the value of eyewitness identification evidence in court; and • improving the scientific foundation underpinning eyewitness identification.
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From page 104... ...
The field would benefit from collaborative research among scientists and law enforcement personnel in the identification and validation of new best practices that can improve eyewitness identification procedures. Such a foundation can be solidified through the use of more effective research designs (for example, those that consider more than one variable at a time, and in different study populations to ensure reproducibility and generalizability)
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From page 105... ...
The committee offers the following recommendations to strengthen the effectiveness of policies and procedures used to obtain accurate eyewitness identifications. RECOMMENDATIONS TO ESTABLISH BEST PRACTICES FOR THE LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY The committee's review of law enforcement practices and procedures, coupled with its consideration of the scientific literature, has identified a number of areas where eyewitness identification procedures could be strengthened.
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From page 106... ...
The committee recommends that all law enforcement agencies provide their officers and agents with training on vision and memory and the variables that affect them, on practices for minimizing contamination, and on effective eyewitness identification protocols. In addition to instruction at the police academy, officers should receive periodic refresher training, and officers assigned to investigative units should receive in-depth instruction.
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From page 107... ...
Witnesses should be instructed that the perpetrator may or may not be in the photo array or lineup and that the criminal investigation will continue regardless of whether the witness selects a suspect. Administrators should use witness instructions consistently in all photo arrays or lineups, and can use pre-recorded instructions or read instructions aloud, in the manner of the mandatory reading of Miranda Rights.
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From page 108... ...
Thus, the committee recommends that law enforcement document the witness' level of confidence verbatim at the time when she or he first identifies a suspect, as confidence levels expressed at later times are subject to recall bias, enhancements stemming from opinions voiced by law enforcement, counsel and the press, and to a host of other factors that render confidence statements less reliable. During the period between the commission of a crime and the formal identification procedure, officers should avoid communications that might affect a witness' confidence level.
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From page 109... ...
That test evaluates the "reliability" of eyewitness identifications using factors derived from prior rulings and not from empirically validated sources. As critics have pointed out, the Manson v.
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From page 110... ...
Both pre-trial judicial inquiries and any subsequent judicial review would create an incentive for agencies to adopt written eyewitness identification procedures and to document the identifications themselves. If these initial inquiries raise issues with the identification process, a judge could conduct a pre-trial hearing to review the reliability and admissibility of eyewitness identification evidence and to assess how it should be treated at trial if found admissible.
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From page 111... ...
Accordingly, the committee recommends that judges take all necessary steps to make juries aware of prior identifications, the manner and time frame in which they were conducted, and the confidence level expressed by the eyewitness at the time. Recommendation #8: Use Scientific Framework Expert Testimony The committee finds that a scientific framework describing what factors may influence a witness' visual experience of an event and the resolution and fidelity of that experience, as well as factors that underlie and influence subsequent encoding, storage, and recall of memories of an event, can inform the fact-finder in a criminal case.
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From page 112... ...
Appropriate legal organizations, together with law enforcement, prosecutors, defense counsel, and judges, should convene a body to establish model jury instructions regarding eyewitness identifications. 6 ew N Jersey Criminal Model Jury Instructions, Identification (July 19, 2012)
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From page 113... ...
complements basic scientific research. However, this strong scientific foundation remains insufficient for understanding the strengths and limitations of eyewitness identification procedures in the field.
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From page 114... ...
Include a practice- and data-informed research agenda that incor porates input from law enforcement and the courts and establishes methodological and reporting standards for research to assess the fundamental performance of various aspects of eyewitness identi fication procedures as well as synthesize research findings across studies.
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From page 115... ...
S trict adherence to guidelines for eyewitness identification research will result in more credible research findings that can guide policy and practice. Research that conforms to guidelines will withstand rigorous scrutiny by peers, will be verifiable through replication, and will permit inclusion in systematic reviews, leading to greater confidence in the validity and generalizability of findings.
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From page 116... ...
education and training for both researchers and law enforcement professionals on the differences between these two communities in their use of terms and considerations of standards of evidence and uncertainties in data. These three elements of a collaborative initiative are critical to advancing the science related to eyewitness identifications, as each bears directly on the integrity of the foundation upon which the efficacy and validity of current and future practices will be judged.
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From page 117... ...
For this reason, the committee recommends broad use of statistical tools that can render a discriminability measure to evaluate eyewitness performance. But a lineup procedure that improves discriminability can yield greater or lesser likelihood of correct identification, depending on how the procedure is applied (see Chapter 5)
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From page 118... ...
From a larger perspective, the identification of factors (such as specific lineup procedures or states of other system variables) that can objectively improve eyewitness identification performance must be among the top priorities for this field.
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From page 119... ...
As this report indicates, however, the malleable nature of human visual perception, memory, and confidence; the imperfect ability to recognize individuals; and policies governing law enforcement procedures can result in mistaken identifications with significant consequences. New law enforcement training protocols, standardized procedures for administering lineups, improvements in the handling of eyewitness identification in court, and better data collection and research on eyewitness identification can improve the accuracy of eyewitness identifications.
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