Eyewitness Misidentifications
In our justice system, there are many crucial points where things can go wrong, and an innocent person
can be convicted. Eyewitness testimony is one of those crucial points, which unfortunately happens more
often than we would like to admit. In his book, Garrett focuses on 250 people who were exonerated
through DNA evidence. These 250 people were wrongfully convicted for various reasons, but Garrett
found that eyewitnesses made misidentifications of the perpetrator in 190 of the 250 cases, or 76% of
the cases (Garrett 48, 2012). It is often wondered how a victim could falsely identify the person that
attacked them, if they weren’t wearing a mask, it should be easy to identify your assailant, right? That is
not necessarily true. Of the cases that Garrett studied of those who were wrongfully convicted, he found
a few themes common across them all. For one, Garrett found that in most of the cases, police either
intentionally or unintentionally coerced the eyewitness into picking out a certain suspect from a lineup.
This was done by making suggestive remarks as to who they believe is the perpetrator, by presenting
lineups in a way that made one person stand out more than others, or even conducting a “showup”,
which is when only one person is presented to the witness to make a possible identification. Garrett
found that while most of the eyewitnesses were confident in their identification at the trial, most were
very hesitant about making the identification when first presented with a suspect.
can be convicted. Eyewitness testimony is one of those crucial points, which unfortunately happens more
often than we would like to admit. In his book, Garrett focuses on 250 people who were exonerated
through DNA evidence. These 250 people were wrongfully convicted for various reasons, but Garrett
found that eyewitnesses made misidentifications of the perpetrator in 190 of the 250 cases, or 76% of
the cases (Garrett 48, 2012). It is often wondered how a victim could falsely identify the person that
attacked them, if they weren’t wearing a mask, it should be easy to identify your assailant, right? That is
not necessarily true. Of the cases that Garrett studied of those who were wrongfully convicted, he found
a few themes common across them all. For one, Garrett found that in most of the cases, police either
intentionally or unintentionally coerced the eyewitness into picking out a certain suspect from a lineup.
This was done by making suggestive remarks as to who they believe is the perpetrator, by presenting
lineups in a way that made one person stand out more than others, or even conducting a “showup”,
which is when only one person is presented to the witness to make a possible identification. Garrett
found that while most of the eyewitnesses were confident in their identification at the trial, most were
very hesitant about making the identification when first presented with a suspect.
As the video “Eyewitness Testimony” by 60 Minutes pointed out, another crucial problem with
eyewitness testimony is the fragility of memory (Eyewitness Testimony). There are many
factors that take place during an attack that could hinder an eyewitness’ ability to make a
correct identification. As you can imagine, during an attack you might be filled with fear and
adrenaline, and there is too much going on at once to focus on one thing. Things like how
dark it is in the setting, whether the perpetrator was wearing a mask, if the victim was ordered
not to look, or even the witness being focused on a weapon that is present instead of the
perpetrators face, all can hinder the possibility of the witness making a positive identification
(Garret 49, 2012). But even with these factors, witnesses are driven to put the person behind
bars, whatever it takes. This is why, as Garrett points out, witnesses will often choose a person
from a lineup that matches the closest to what they remember the perpetrator looking like.
eyewitness testimony is the fragility of memory (Eyewitness Testimony). There are many
factors that take place during an attack that could hinder an eyewitness’ ability to make a
correct identification. As you can imagine, during an attack you might be filled with fear and
adrenaline, and there is too much going on at once to focus on one thing. Things like how
dark it is in the setting, whether the perpetrator was wearing a mask, if the victim was ordered
not to look, or even the witness being focused on a weapon that is present instead of the
perpetrators face, all can hinder the possibility of the witness making a positive identification
(Garret 49, 2012). But even with these factors, witnesses are driven to put the person behind
bars, whatever it takes. This is why, as Garrett points out, witnesses will often choose a person
from a lineup that matches the closest to what they remember the perpetrator looking like.
In order to make eyewitness identifications more accurate, Garrett suggests making lineups
more accurate, in that the suspects shown in the lineup must look somewhat alike, and they
cannot be arranged so one person sticks out more than others. Police should also tell the
witness that the true perpetrator may or may not be present in the lineup, so the witness does
not feel compelled to pick someone in the lineup that looks the closest to the perpetrator. He
suggests that police should also take into consideration the witness’ opportunity to view the
offender, their degree of attention, the passage of time, and cross-racial identifications, when
considering the accuracy of an eyewitness’ identification.
more accurate, in that the suspects shown in the lineup must look somewhat alike, and they
cannot be arranged so one person sticks out more than others. Police should also tell the
witness that the true perpetrator may or may not be present in the lineup, so the witness does
not feel compelled to pick someone in the lineup that looks the closest to the perpetrator. He
suggests that police should also take into consideration the witness’ opportunity to view the
offender, their degree of attention, the passage of time, and cross-racial identifications, when
considering the accuracy of an eyewitness’ identification.
Eyewitness Testimony Part 2 [Video file]. (2012, October 30). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtelV9lmzQc
Garrett, B. (2012). Eyewitness Misidentifications. In Convicting the innocent: Where criminal prosecutions go wrong (pp. 45-83). Harvard University Press.
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