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
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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
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