Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Most Excellent Eyewitness Identification Resources

The Innocence Project notes that in the Project's two-hundred plus exonerations, seventy-five percent are attributable to false eyewitness IDs.

When one is investigating an eyewitness case, it is imperative to carefully investigate every aspect of the case including looking at any line-up or show-up procedures used by the police. It is also important to inform oneself of the psychology of identification and, more critically, the psychology of what leads to a false identification.

Luckily, there are plenty of resources out there to assist the criminal investigator in familiarizing him/herself with the science, the proper police procedures, motions to suppress suggestive identifications, and experts available to assist in an eyewitness identification.

One such most excellent research resource is EyeID.org. EyeID.org is a collaborative effort that arose out of the Eyewitness Identification Reform Litigation Network, a joint effort of the Innocence Project, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.
EyeID.Org is a comprehensive resource for defense attorneys to assist in the litigation of ID cases, providing a frequently updated repository of trial pleadings, expert transcripts and affidavits, research articles, documentation on police procedures, legislative reform materials, training materials, and other resources compiled to support either litigation or legislative reform efforts in the area of eyewitness identification.

You can sign up for free in the member area after certifying that you work in the criminal defense field. There is even a blog(!) that contains ongoing studies, research, and breaking news in the field of eyewitness identifications.

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