1 book cover here chapter 9 eyewitness identification guidelines and procedures criminal...

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Book CoverHere

Chapter 9

EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATIONGuidelines and Procedures

Criminal Investigation: A Method for Reconstructing the Past, 7th Edition

Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Methods

• Photo Files– Computerized Mug Photographs– Using a Photo File

• Sketches and Composite Images– Using the Police Artist– Using Composite Kits

• Lineups• Facial Recognition Technology


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Photo Files• In all states, the laws require the photographing,

fingerprinting, and collection of a DNA sample of anyone arrested for a felony or some of the more serious misdemeanors

• Mug shots are taken and personal descriptions are recorded

• Rogues Gallery (mug shot file)– Basis for an offender’s mug shot file include personal

description, fingerprints, photos and DNA sample– A file administrator must develop a system that permits only

those photographs of likely offenders to be shown on demand to the case investigator and eyewitness


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Using the Police Artist

• Witness describes the offender• Artist asks questions to witness and begins

drawing, free from interruption and observation by the witness; this prevents the witness from shaping and directing the artist’s outlines


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Using Composite Kits

• Composite kits are commercially available• Identi-Kit is well-known in the United States• A variety of racial and ethnic origins are

available; kits come with instruction manuals• Computerized composite kits available,

allowing easy transmission to police departments


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Lineup Procedure

• Composition of the Lineup– Number and Position of Participants– Outward Appearance of Participants

(race, sex, physical characteristics, type of dress)

• Conduct of Lineups– Suppressing Suggestions– Recording the Procedure

• Uncooperative Suspects


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Lineups

• Lineup should be conducted as soon as possible after the apprehension of a suspect– The shorter the interval between the lineup and

the commission of the crime, the more reliable the eyewitness’s memory

• An innocent person can be released quickly• If the suspect is released on bond before a

lineup is held, the process could be delayed


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Number and Position of Participants• Some state courts have sanctioned a three-person

lineup• U.S. Supreme Court implicitly approved a lineup

consisting of six people, including two suspects; at least two non-suspects are needed for each suspect, a ratio of 2:1

• Suspects should be allowed to choose a spot and to change to any other spot after a viewing; this elemental fairness has led suspects identified in a lineup to confess more readily if interrogated soon thereafter


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Conduct of Lineups

• Lineup participants must be cautioned to behave similarly and avoid conduct that would set them apart from the suspect

• Each person in lineup must utter specific words or take a specific pose if one is requested by the eyewitness

• Only one witness/viewer should be permitted in the lineup room at a time


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Pictorial Identifications

• The Supreme Court allowed a conviction to stand based on a pre-arrest display of photographs in which no counsel was present, and held it to have been a valid procedure

• Suspect does not have the right to have an attorney present when an identification procedure is employed


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Right to an Attorney

• Lineups• Advising the Suspect• Waiver of Right• Role of the Suspect’s Attorney


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One-on-One Confrontations

• “Show-Ups”– Used when a proper lineup cannot be arranged

in time

• Inherently suggestive• Absence of incriminating commentary critical• Keep record for use in court


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Reliability of Eyewitness Identifications

• Though the average citizen tends to put a good deal of faith in them, eyewitness identifications are generally not all that reliable

• Instructions on eyewitness identification should be given to a jury to help them evaluate the evidence


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Jury Instructions

• The defense may ask a trial judge to give jurors special instructions to assist them in evaluating an eyewitness testimony– This helps the defense attorney to protect a

client’s interests– Investigators should be familiar so they can spot

and remedy any weakness before their evidence reaches court


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Conclusion

• One of the more rapidly changing aspects of criminal investigation involves eyewitness testimony

• Keep abreast of court decisions and legislation related to faulty eyewitness accounts

• Need to “test” and eyewitness description and account of an observation


1 book cover here chapter 9 eyewitness identification guidelines and procedures criminal...

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