Eyewitness ID

Attorneys considering challenging eyewitness identification should consult Chapter 3 of Alyson A. Grine & Emily Coward, Raising Issues of Race in North Carolina Criminal Cases. The chapter provides detailed information on motions to suppress, voir dire of witnesses, jury voir dire, working with experts, cross-examination, and other topics.

Innocence Project report showing that misidentification causes more wrongful convictions than any other factor. Misidentifications contributed to wrongful convictions of more than 75% of the over 230 people exonerated through post-conviction DNA testing.

John T. Wixted and Gary L. Wells published this article in Mar. 2017 finding that eyewitness confidence and accuracy are strongly related in pristine lineup conditions. Where lineup conditions are non-pristine, accuracy of even a high confidence suspect ID is seriously compromised. Pristine line-up procedures include using only one suspect per lineup; the suspect should not stand out in the lineup; a caution should be given that the offender might not be in the lineup; testing should be double-blind; and a confidence statement should be taken at the time of the identification. Full text of the article can be downloaded.

The National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report evaluating the scientific research on memory and eyewitness identification in October 2014. The report provides recommendations for improving police identification procedures and for how courts should handle eyewitness evidence. The report is available for purchase or free download.

2017 memo from the US DOJ which endorses the 2014 NAS Report, Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness ldentification, stating:

“The heads of the Department’s law enforcement components should review these procedures and, to the extent necessary, update their own internal policies to ensure that they are consistent with the procedures described in this document. In addition, all Department prosecutors should review these procedures and take them into consideration when deciding whether to charge a case involving an eyewitness identification.”

1999 US DOJ guide developed by the Technical Working Group for Eyewitness Evidence. Law enforcement should be aware of these best practices.

On October 2, 2024, the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law marked International Wrongful Convictions Day – a day designed to raise awareness of the causes and remedies of wrongful convictions and to shed light on the tremendous harms wrongful convictions have on individuals, their families, and communities. Since 1989, 75 people have been …

This report reviews advances in research and in our criminal legal system since the release of the 2014 NAS report. We base our findings on a systematic scoping review of empirical research in eyewitness identification, a workshop with researchers and legal professionals (November 2020), and surveys of leading respondents, as described below. This report also offers promising future directions for both research and practice. The NAS report encouraged research in new directions leading to new developments in the field, and we describe them here.

Wells, G. L., Kovera, M. B., Douglass, A. B., Brewer, N., Meissner, C. A., & Wixted, J. T. (2020). Policy and procedure recommendations for the collection and preservation of eyewitness identification evidence. Law and Human Behavior, 44(1), 3–36.

The Executive Committee of the American Psychology-Law Society appointed a subcommittee to update the influential 1998 scientific review paper on guidelines for eyewitness identification procedures. The results yielded nine recommendations can advance the reliability and integrity of the eyewitness identification evidence.

Aug. 2020 article by Brandon Garrett and Thomas Albright that examines how the science of eyewitness identifications has informed the law. The article looks state-by-state at legal precedent, legislative action, and police reforms related to eyewitness evidence. Available for free download.

by Gary Wells and Deah Quinlivan, Law Hum Behav (2009) 33:1-24.

by Gary Wills, Mark Small Steven Penrod, Roy Malpass, Solomon Fulero, C.A.E. Brimacombe, Law and Human Behavior, Vol. 22, No. 6, 1998.

Free-to-attend webinar offered by IDS. Presenters: Dr. Lori VanWallendael and Attorney Greg Tosi

Presenter: William Crozier, Ph.D. Sponsored by NCIDS, Recording available.

Stetson University College of Law
National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law
Complimentary Forensic Science Webinar Series
Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Capital Case Litigation Initiative

Webinar Presenter: Professor Jules Epstein, Director of Advocacy Programs, Temple University

The 16^th webinar in the Crime Scene to Courtroom webinar series will cover eyewitness identification evidence as it relates to science and the law.

Professor Epstein’s work has concentrated, in recent years, on capital case, eyewitness, and forensics issues. He has taught death penalty law nationally to judges and attorneys, and continues to handle capital cases at the appellate and post-conviction stages. In the area of eyewitness evidence, he has lectured, authored both articles and book chapters, and served as an expert witness.

Professor Epstein served as a member of the National Commission on Forensic Science from 2013 until the Commission’s demise in 2017.  He was co-editor of SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE REVIEW: ADMISSIBILITY AND THE USE OF EXPERT EVIDENCE IN THE COURTROOM, MONOGRAPH NO. 9, (ABA Books, 2013) and THE FUTURE OF EVIDENCE (ABA Books, 2011).

The webinar is part of the complimentary webinar series, Crime Scene to Courtroom Forensics Training. This project was supported by Grant No. 2015-CP-BX-K006 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

You will receive a confirmation email with webinar details from Stetson 24 hours prior to the event.

Questions? Email ope@law.stetson.edu

A resource for eyewitness identification reform, including a link to the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission Recommendations for Eyewitness Identification.

Jeff Welty’s Dec. 5, 2016 blog post contains relevant case cites and discussion of the topic of eyewitness identification expert testimony.

UNC School of Government blog post by Jeff Welty on State v. Rawls which held that show-ups are not covered by the Eyewitness Identification Reform Act.

4th Circuit en banc rehearing, decided Aug. 24, 2020. See Judge Wynn’s concurring opinion regarding eyewitness identification evidence.

In this Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case, Judge Jed Rakoff finds ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to challenge the unreliable eyewitness identification evidence in the case. Counsel failed to consult with an expert, abandoned a pre-trial motion to preclude the eyewitness identification evidence, and failed to move to exclude a prejudicial photo of the defendant with a BB gun.

The court held that it was not plain error for a detective to testify as a lay witness that the defendant was displaying gang signs with his hands.

The test in North Carolina for identification procedures prior to the enactment of the EIRA was stated in State v. Rogers, 355 N.C. 420, 432 (2002) as follows: Whether an identification procedure is unduly suggestive depends on the totality of the circumstances. State v. Pigott, 320 N.C. 96, 99 (1987). A due process analysis requires a two-part inquiry. First, the Court must determine whether the identification procedures were impermissibly suggestive. State v. Fowler, 353 N.C. 599, 617 (2001). If so, “the Court must then determine whether the [suggestive] procedures created a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification.” State v. Fowler, 353 N.C. 599, 617 (2001). In determining whether identification procedures are impermissibly suggestive, courts have considered such factors as the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime, the witness’ degree of attention, the accuracy of the witness’ prior description of the criminal, the level of certainty shown by the witness, and the time between the offense and the identification. Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 114 (1977).

Ronald Cotton was wrongfully convicted of two rapes and burglaries in 1985 and 1987. Although innocent, Ronald Cotton served over 10 years in prison, primarily due to erroneous eyewitness identification. DNA testing in 1995 revealed that evidence from one victim did not match Cotton, but instead matched with another man who had confessed to the crime. Mr. Cotton was pardoned by the governor of North Carolina in 1995.

To learn more visit: Innocence Project: Know the Cases and see Rethinking Reliance on Eyewitness Confidence by Neil Vidmar, James E. Coleman, Jr., and Theresa A. Newman of Duke University Law School.

On Nov. 29, 2012, the Oregon Supreme Court issued an important decision, which places the burden on the state to establish the reliability of the eyewitness identification and recognizes and requires courts to act in a manner consistent with the latest scientific research on eyewitness identification and memory. This opinion may be useful in NC cases involving show ups or where counsel is arguing for suppression on state constitutional grounds.

NC Court of Appeals found the trial court properly denied the defendant’s motion to suppress asserting that an eyewitness’s pretrial identification was unduly suggestive and found no violation of the EIRA where the eyewitness identified the defendant by looking through the pages of The Slammer newspaper.

In State v. Rawls, 700 S.E.2d 112 (2010), the Court of Appeals held that “show-ups” are distinct from line-ups, and, therefore, are not subject to the guidelines set out in EIRA. Rather, the court applied the North Carolina common law test for determining if the show-up was proper which is a two-step inquiry described above: (1) The court must determine whether the procedure was impermissibly suggestive, and (2) If the procedure is found to be impermissibly suggestive, then the court must determine whether the procedure “created a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification.”

Expert testimony on eyewitness identification has been excluded in several cases, so counsel should be prepared for a challenge to its admissibility. Trial courts will weigh whether the proposed testimony is case specific and has probative value, and will consider such factors as whether the expert interviewed the eyewitnesses, visited the crime scene and observed the eyewitnesses’ testimony at trial. See also State v. Knox, 78 N.C. App. 493(1985), and State v. Cotton, 99 N.C. App. 615 (1990)

For briefs on eyewitness identification issues, including showups, photo arrays, independent basis for in-court identification, expert witness on identification, and jury instruction on identification, visit the Identification of Accused section of the Indigent Defense Services Brief Bank.

For crimes committed on or after March 1, 2008, the Eyewitness Identification Reform Act (EIRA) creates procedural guidelines for eyewitness identifications during photo lineups and live lineups. This legislation is codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. 15A-284.50 through 15A-284.53 (2007).