Its a fact that eyewitnesses make mistakes. (Joshua Boucher/The State/AP) Who can help student-athletes cash in? Attributing that error to the unreliability of eyewitness memory is, in our view, pointing the finger of blame in the wrong direction. As an experimental psychologist who conducts research on eyewitness identification, Ive seen hundreds of examples of highly confident yet mistaken eyewitnesses both in the laboratory and in actual court cases. Videos circulating on Twitter appeared to show dozens of UN diplomats walking out as he started to speak. Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, attorneys, and jurors need to realize that just because a witness says so does not make it so. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? The pathologist discovered that one of the babies had in fact died from a viral infection, not cot death. Until he was released on parole, the 81-year-old Weger ranked as the second longest-held inmate in Illinois prison system. Psychologists have learned a lot about why such errors happen. When proper procedures are not followed, the potential for error exists. This is not always the case. To do this, proper testing protocols that reduce chances of contamination need to be followed. Miller was placed in a lineup and one of the parking lot attendants positively identified Miller; the other parking lot attendant tentatively identified him. By itself, that fact only shows that contaminated memory is unreliable (just as contaminated DNA evidence is). Research has repeatedly demonstrated that simple confirming comments such as these have dramatic effects on eyewitnesses testimony. Police officers should avoid leading questioning while interviewing potential eyewitnesses, since eyewitnesses might be eager to say what they think will help the investigation, rather than the unblemished version of their memory. The first is in the classic My Cousin Vinny situation, where eyewitnesses simply believe they see something, despite not actually being capable of truly witnessing the event accurately. What law enforcementand the publicneeds to know. Compared to administrators conducting double-blind lineups, these informed administrators are more likely to ask witnesses about the suspect and smile when witnesses are looking at the suspect rather than at another person in the lineup. Claimed to have called out to Flowers that day. In this case, the defendant was charged with first degree murder and the only evidence against him was the testimony of two eyewitnesses. 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. Overall, an issue plaguing both courts and law enforcement is the lack of standard procedures to safeguard defendants against unreliable eyewitness testimony. 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. Two police officers thought the sketch resembled Miller, a man they had questioned a few days earlier. As with all indeterminate sentences, decisions around release are the sole responsibility of the Parole Board. 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. Finally, almost a year later, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declared Grant actually innocent on May 19, 2021. Los Angeles, Review: A reimagined Secret Garden fails to flower anew at the Ahmanson Theatre, Editorial: Ousting L.A. Countys chief probation officer isnt enough. "Double-Blind" Process for Lineups and Photo Arrays. 22 Years later, in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court highlighted the danger of erroneous eyewitness identification in United States v. Expert witness evidence is not needed in all legal proceedings but it plays an important part in many cases. COVID origins? Not so with eyewitness memory. Assistant Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University. What would that mean for the reliability of the blood or fingerprint evidence, for example, collected at that scene? 70 percent of the 349 wrongful convictions. His doctors maintained that he was suffering from pre-senile dementia, and he couldnt remember three numbers backwards or the name of the US president. A neurologist also claimed that Saunders brain was small for a man his age and showed evidence of shrinking. [Youre smart and curious about the world. 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. With surprising ease, for example, participants in a memory experiment can be led to believe that they saw a stop sign when they actually saw a yield sign or that they became lost in a shopping mall as a child when no such experience actually occurred. But faith in eyewitnesses runs so deep that despite the overwhelming proof of Grants innocence, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals initially refused his exoneration request. Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. For example, in cases where a mental disorder is an issue, the evidence of a psychiatrist may influence the conduct of legal proceedings, it may help to adduce medical evidence relevant to trial and may be the deciding factor between imprisonment and mental health treatment. During Wednesday's interview with CNN, Amirabdollahian accused western media outlets of encouraging violent protests in his country. They found that the odds of a false identification were 1.56 times greater in cases where the race was different than the witness, thus highlighting how bias can affect how somebody remembers an event.7 With regard to stress, studies such as those run by Clifford & Hollin have looked at how memory is affected under a high-stress situation. 32 National Research Council, Identifying The Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification 38, 4-8 (2014). Sally Challen claimed she experienced years of emotional abuse before killing him with a hammer. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. Advertise to our national and international criminal justice audience at The Crime Report and support our mission. 21 Commonwealth v. Walker, 625 Pa. 450, 47678 (2014). 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). Albright explains that witness misidentifications are essentially failures of visual perception (seeing things accurately) or failures of memory (lack of precision in storage and recall). Continue reading with a Scientific American subscription. Noting a victims initial confidence level at the initial identification can be important, so as to track if the witness grows more or less confident with the identification over the course of the trial, which might be an indicator of eyewitness unreliability. 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 time between the crime and the identification procedure. The psychiatrist formed an opinion of her mental state at the time of the homicide. But in 57 percent of those cases, it was possible to determine what happened on the initial (uncontaminated) memory test. Finally, a witness may have more difficulty making a correct identification when he and the suspect are of different races. Column: 15 minutes of fame flies by. The attendants were also able to have a brief conversation with the driver before he fled on foot. Dan tries to find out more about Mustafa . Many believe that this conviction was based on contaminated DNA evidence. or debate this issue live on our message boards. Incredibly, prior to Heidelbergs sentencing, the real shooter, James Clark, confessed to the crime, but the confession fell on deaf ears and Heidelberg was sentenced to 99 to 175 years in prison. Miller was ultimately charged with rape, robbery and kidnapping. Prior to admitting eyewitness testimony, judges should make inquiries into the reliability of the eyewitness, looking for any indications of unreliability. By the way, Weger signed EVERY SINGLE PAGE of the FIRST confession which was transcribed by a court reporter who testified under OATH Weger was not threatened or harmed when he made his damning statement. In the Miller case, a. Videotaping allows for review of eyewitness testimony later on in the trial if the reliability of eyewitness testimony is called into question. But eyewitnesses allege she was severely beaten and died as a result of police brutality. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, 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. Instead evidence collected at the contaminated crime scene would probably be declared inadmissible. Read through our advertising and sponsorship rates and contact us. Medicolegal court reports are requested where expert witness evidence is required. Ruling in the case of a man convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault, the court noted that several variables can produce mistaken eyewitness testimony. In one clip an unidentified Iranian woman can be heard saying: 'They are without shame and should be embarrassed. 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. The appeal was successful and the conviction was quashed. Given the prevalence and impact eyewitness testimony can have within a criminal case, it is important to take steps to make it a more reliable practice. During the tense interview, Amirabdollahian claimed Mahsa Amini - the 22-year-old who died after being arrested by morality police for failing to wear the hijab - was turned into a 'symbol' by protesters. John Worboys worked as a cab driver and was charged with sexually assaulting several of his female passengers. Why are we still having these debates? Abcarian: Mask mandates? Two other eyewitnesses, a couple, remembered discussing their selection with one another and confirming each others decisions. Its a stain on our justice system. Alex Murdaugh's defense attorneys will deliver their closing arguments in his murder trial on Thursday as they seek to raise reasonable doubt about whether he killed his wife and son in 2021. 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