California Takes Steps to Prevent False Eyewitness Identifications

The standards may help reduce the number of wrongful convictions.

California Takes Steps to Prevent False Eyewitness Identifications

If you’re a fan of police procedurals or legal dramas, you have likely seen police line-ups or photo arrays where the eyewitness is unsure of his or her identification…until the officer does something to lead the witness to a particular suspect. Perhaps it’s a cough, or a nudge, or even a suggestion like, “Are you sure you don’t see the guy who mugged you?” While these scenes might be fictionalized for television, the reality is that false eyewitness identifications do happen — and they can lead to wrongful convictions.

Since 1991, 66 Californians have been wrongly convicted of a crime based on an eyewitness misidentification. In 2017 alone, 12 out of 13 DNA-based exonerations in California involved an eyewitness misidentification. There is no question: eyewitness identifications play a significant role in criminal prosecutions. And if they are not protected from influence by law enforcement and any other party, there is a serious potential for a miscarriage of justice.

California has never had any statewide standards on eyewitness identifications. While different counties and municipalities may have enacted rules for how to conduct lineups and photo arrays, there has not been a single standard to apply across the board. According to a criminal defense lawyer Riverside, CA, that all changed in September 2018, when Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 923 into law.

Senate Bill 923 is a significant reform, in that it will help to prevent the conviction of innocent people based on eyewitness misidentification. It will also make us all safer because it will enable law enforcement to focus on catching the true culprit, rather than closing a case due to a faulty identification.

Under the new law, all eyewitness identifications must follow certain procedures in order to be valid. As a criminal defense lawyer Riverside, CA can explain, this process may not be foolproof — but it will help to make sure that eyewitness identifications are as accurate and unbiased as possible.

Some of the new standards include a requirement that the entire identification process be videotaped, which will be helpful if your criminal defense lawyer Riverside, CA needs to challenge the identification. In addition, the eyewitness must provide a description of the suspect prior to conducting the identification procedure. Law enforcement must also tell the witness that the suspect may or may not be in the lineup or photos. All eyewitnesses must be kept separate when viewing an identification procedure, and nothing must be said during the procedure to influence an eyewitness’ identification. For lineups, the officers must not have knowledge of the suspect’s identity, and non-suspect “fillers” must be used that match the eyewitness’ description of the suspect. Finally, after a lineup, the eyewitness must provide a statement that describes his or her level of confidence in the identification. Again, this statement is evidence that may be used by your criminal defense lawyer Riverside, CA to question the eyewitness about his or her identification.

These new standards should help protect innocent Californians from being falsely identified by eyewitnesses, and ensure the integrity of the process. The Chambers Law Firm strongly believes that this law and other criminal justice reforms are necessary to protect the rights of defendants. If you have been charged with a crime, we can help. Contact us today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation with a criminal defense lawyer Riverside, CA.

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