Study Finds Witness Identifications Affected by Presentation Methods
The AJS released a study that revealed the potential unreliability of police methods in identifying witnesses and suggests that using photo line-ups in a sequence reduces false identifications.

November 10, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The American Judicature Society (AJS) released a study that past September that revealed the potential unreliability of police methods in identifying witnesses.

The AJS researchers looked at data from police departments in Austin, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; San Diego, California; and Charlotte, North Carolina between 2088 and 2011. Researchers compared results from situations in which eyewitnesses were shown photographs of potential suspects in a sequence with those from situations in which eyewitnesses were shown photographs of potential suspects in an array. With the sequential method, witnesses are shown photos of potential suspects one at a time. In an array, witnesses are shown photos of potential suspects simultaneously.

The study found that when witnesses looked at photos in an array, they identified a "known innocent filler" picture as the person they saw commit the crime 18 percent of the time, versus 12 percent of the time when they looked at pictures sequentially. Thus, the study suggests that using a sequential photo line-up method reduces false eyewitness identifications.

How Presentation Affects Identification

The study's authors argue that using sequential photo line-up is more accurate because witnesses who are required to look at pictures one at a time forces them to compare a single image with their memories of the face they saw, rather than comparing pictures to determine which one looks most like the person they saw.

In addition, other studies have found that witness identification accuracy improves even more when the line-up is "double-blind," meaning the person showing the witness the photos has no knowledge of the case. This cuts down on the possibility that the person administering the line-up will, inadvertently or otherwise, send the eyewitness non-verbal clues about which person the police want the eyewitness to identify.

Misidentification a Significant Problem

According to the AJS, bringing awareness to flawed eyewitness identification procedures is very important. They say that faulty eyewitness identifications are the leading cause of wrongful convictions in the U.S. The study's lead author, AJS director of Social Sciences Dr. Gary Wells, reported that 75 percent of those wrongfully convicted of crimes and later exonerated by DNA evidence were convicted because of faulty eyewitness identifications.

The study's authors and attorneys across the country including one Las Vegas criminal defense attorney hope that police departments will use the study's findings as motivation to change their eyewitness identification procedures. However, many police departments have been allegedly resistant to change because previous studies indicated that witnesses made fewer identifications with the sequential line-up method.

Unfortunately, for some police departments, changing to this method as a way to help decrease the number of falsely identified suspects doesn't appear to be likely.

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