Fiftythree percent of the misidentification cases, where race is known, involved crossracial misidentifications. Of the 19 cases, 18 of them were based on eyewitness testimony. The key to cracking cold cases and its not dna huffpost. Davis was accused of shooting one man, assaulting a homeless man with a pistol, and killing a police officer, and the case against him is built entirely on eyewitness testimony. While false accusations and faulty eyewitness testimony isnt common, it does happen. However, official misconduct also occurred in cases with much higher. Court of appeals for the third circuit held that the district court was wrong in its decision to exclude the psychologists expert testimony, and remanded the case back to the district court with instructions to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the admissibility of expert testimony. Eyewitness testimony is considered by juries to be a reliable form of evidence, if a person saw something happen then surely it happened. Nothing spoils a good story like the arrival of an eyewitness. Adams was sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in dallas county, texas. Eyewitness testimony is often used during crime scene investigations. Questioning eyewitness accuracy in colorado criminal cases. This includes identification of perpetrators, details of the crime scene etc. But eyewitness identification has been responsible for serious miscarriages of justice.
Of those who have been exonerated by dna evidence, nearly threequarters of them were convicted in the first place because of faulty eyewitness testimony. Research has found that eyewitness identification testimony can be very unreliable. New research reveals how little we can trust eyewitnesses. Perhaps the best known of those cases is that of kirk bloodsworth, the first person exonerated by dna tests from death row. Reliability of eyewitness testimony chicago criminal. Making a murderer evidences several of the problems with eyewitness testimony. In 1984 a young woman named jennifer thompson was raped by a man who broke into her home in the middle of the night.
Ronald cotton was exonerated in 1995, after spending over 10 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. In 2004, in one of the most famous junk science cases, texas executed cameron todd willingham for the murder by arson of his three children on. However, there are several ways that a criminal defense lawyer can challenge such eyewitness testimony. Supreme court declines to rule on eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness testimony put innocent persons on death row. Flawed eyewitness identification in houston criminal cases. In july 1984, an assailant broke into jennifer thompsoncanninos apartment and sexually assaulted her. The 10 worst failures of eyewitness testimony part two. The problem is the lack of awareness of this fallibility ian rowland, magician use of eyewitnesses in new jersey courts needs change, exjudge says.
The fbiapple encryption dispute concerns whether and to what extent courts in the united. Another woman in her neighborhood was raped around the same time. California justice calls for new rules on eyewitness. But increasingly it is being found that this is not the case. Troy davis case shows need for eyewitness identification reform. Surveys of jurors in criminal cases show that jurors place great weight on the testimony. For example, in the first episode of the series, police talk to a sexual assault victim about her attacker.
The accuracy of eyewitness testimony essay example bartleby. Attachment a summaries of 46 cases in which mistaken or perjured eyewitness testimony put innocent persons on death row adams, randall dale convicted 1977, exonerated 1989 mr. Slates excellent legal analyst dahlia lithwick explains. The accuracy of eyewitness testimony is a major topic in our society. Georgia executed davis for the murder of an offduty police officer based on the testimony of eyewitnesses most of whom later recanted. Mistaken eyewitness testimony is far too common in wrongful imprisonment cases mistaken eyewitness testimony is far too common in wrongful imprisonment cases. Questioning eyewitness accuracy in colorado criminal cases since eyewitness memories can be influenced by variables at the crime scene and police protocols, eyewitness evidence is often questionable. The problem of faulty or outright false eyewitness testimony is only compounded when prosecutors and police withhold evidence that a defense lawyer could use to destroy the credibility of these.
In 1984, she was raped in her home in north carolina. How eyewitnesses get it wrong in criminal cases youtube. One of the most critical fixtures of the legal systemthe identification of an eyewitness has occasionally turned out to be one of its most erratic elements, influenced by everything from the race of a suspect to bad lighting to aggressive police interrogators. It refers to an account given by people of an event they have witnessed. In fact, the only physical evidence collected from the scene were some bullets and shell casings no dna or fingerprints. Gerson scoured the case files and found references to a witness who was blind in one eye. Examples like this remind us of how inaccurate eyewitness testimony can be, whether its a witness to a crime in a court of law. Troy davis case shows need for eyewitness identification. The accuracy of an eyewitness testimony case briefs. However, a growing body of research is showing that eyewitness testimony is not always reliable and problems with it can lead to miscarriages of justice. Direct evidence in sex crimes cases can be filled with lies. How eyewitnesses get it wrong in criminal cases al.
Robbed of his life by a wrongful conviction, hes now free, and. If youre accused of a crime you dont feel you had anything to do with, we can help. For the reasons that follow, we hold 2that where the case turns on the accuracy of eyewitness identifications and there is little or no corroborating evidence connecting the defendant to the crime, it is an abuse of discretion for a trial court to exclude expert testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identifications if that testimony is. Cutting down on cases of mistaken identity the independent. Human memories can be vivid, especially in situations involving shock or duress. Mistaken eyewitnesses have played a role in 75 percent of the 273 dna exonerations nationwide, according to the justice brandeis innocence project at brandeis university. The case rested solely on the testimony of the victim. Eyewitness testimony can be tragically mistaken live science. The answer is yes, eyewitness testimony is important, but it is dangerous to rely on as a sole source of evidence. A purported eyewitness, who in fact was the actual killer, framed mr.
Organizations ios and conviction integrity units cius continue to play an. She received around 36 pictures in six sets of six, known as. Greg hurley, knowledge and information services analyst, national center for state courts. Defendant was charged with robbery in the first degree and other crimes. Part i of this report describes basic patterns across all 151 known. The government appealed the ruling, but then dropped the case on april 22. Exonerations in 2017 michigan law university of michigan. The 10 worst failures of eyewitness testimony part one march 12, 2015 other.
Another realworld example of eyewitness unreliability. The fbi recovered an apple iphone 5cowned by the san bernardino. Bias contaminate eyewitness testimony, which is the biggest contributor to wrongful convictions in the united state. Summaries of 46 cases in which mistaken or perjured eyewitness.
Part i of this report describes basic patterns across all 9 known exonerations in. Defenses to eyewitness testimony in criminal cases hearing that there is an eyewitness to a crime can cause a great degree of apprehension in a criminal case. In most of those cases, the eyewitnesses who testified felt confident in their. Julius earl ruffin knows all too well how inaccurate eyewitness identification can be. The 10 worst failures of eyewitness testimony part two march 12, 2015 other. This same process occurred in the investigation that joe nickell and i did into the most famous photo and sighting of lake champlain monster. Turns out eyewitness testimony is one of the least reliable forms of evidence. The facts came to light after filmmaker errol morris took an interest in the case and produced a nowfamous documentary the thin blue line about the case. And it doesnt only happen in serious cases of rape and murder. People make terrible eyewitnesses but it turns out theres an exception may 2, 2017 1. With the many cases where an eyewitness testimony has wrongfully convicted a suspect, one would think that the use of eyewitness evidence as the most important piece of evidence would be removed. Defenses to eyewitness testimony in criminal cases.
In fact, mistaken eyewitness testimony is the single biggest contributor to wrongful convictions. A fascinating case recently went in front of the supreme court. A new report from the national research council aims to provide police departments and courts with a set of best practices for assessing and using eyewitness identification in criminal cases. New hampshire, at the heart of which is the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Law enforcement and the courts should follow the recommendations of social scientists when using and assessing eyewitness techniques, such as lineups, in criminal cases.
The initial case against hunt relied on eyewitness testimonya man claimed. He was convicted of a 1979 murder based on discredited eyewitness testimony, in a case that had no physical evidence or a murder weapon. The proper use of eyewitness testimony is gaining traction, thanks in large part to psychologists research and testimony. It can happen even in misdemeanor possession cases or assault cases. For example they may be required to give a description at a trial of a robbery or a road accident someone has seen.
Eyewitness testimony is an important element in many criminal cases and a confident eyewitness can be very persuasive on a jury. Although a testimony by a bystander or a victim regarding an incident is a great tool for further investigation, testimonies are often times false and can lead to. Thirtyseven cases involved mistaken eyewitness identification. People make terrible eyewitnesses but it turns out there. His convictions were based largely on flawed eyewitness identification procedures used by police at the time.
Eyewitness memory is a lot more reliable than you think. Knw 2333 eyewitness testimony the fallibility of human recall is not the problem. For instance, testimony from an eyewitness is considered direct evidence and there is a great deal of research showing that eyewitness testimony is particularly problematic. Relying on a louisiana law, the trial judge refused to let henrys lawyers call experts in eyewitness testimony or to challenge the procedures used. There was a time when eyewitness testimony was considered the best evidence in a criminal case. No matter what eyewitness testimony is in the court of law, it is the lowest form of evidence in the court of science. In 50% of the misidentification cases, eyewitness testimony was the central evidence used against the defendant without other corroborating evidence like confessions, forensic science or informant testimony. The case rested solely on the testimony of the victim, ann meng, a young mother of three who confidently pointed to ruffin as her assailant. The 10 worst failures of eyewitness testimony part one.
This is not the first time a person is pretty much convicted based on eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence, said jason chan. He was misidentified by five eyewitnesses, and as a. The least trusted testimony in a court of law is eyewitness testimony. Using the victims description, a police sketch is created. One of the most famous cases of inaccurate eyewitness testimony involved jennifer thompson. When she went to work and learned from detective richard zolkowski, who was in charge of investigating the sasson shooting, that brenda anderson had been named as an eyewitness, vanderkam went back to talk to anderson. The trouble with eyewitness identification testimony in. In the case of one of the witnesses, reed was the only bald person in a sixphoto array and the only person to appear in. She was able to break free from her assailant and run to a nearby home. Summaries of 46 cases in which mistaken or perjured. To help the amount of wrongful convictions, judges, jurors and prosecutors need to be better educated in eyewitness testimonies and the factors that. Adams and received immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.
When identification is an issue in a criminal case and the identifying witness and defendant appear to be of different races, a party is entitled, upon request, to a charge on crossracial identification. But recent scientific developments have cast doubt on the reliability of eyewitness testimony. The new york times reported that the lead detectives on the case broke. The case involves an alleged car breakin and a witness who offered. The testimony of an eyewitness is crucial and juries have the tendency to pay close attention to the details a witness is recalling jenkins, 2018. With this being said, if juries are relying on the specific details that an eyewitness is giving during a court case, are these eyewitness testimonies reliable or unreliable. And in 36 percent of those cases, more than one eyewitness made the same mistake.
446 1186 1172 1534 291 743 1505 317 772 1287 1559 936 1250 1032 783 1425 730 19 907 628 90 413 334 1180 1516 357 473 1307 683 498 614 65 495 1355 43 765 440 1418 1531 635 1232 774 501 1242 1034 1067