Eyewitness rules need revamping

Opinion by Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 25, 2007)

I'm sure we're all familiar with the climactic moment in courtroom dramas when the witness points a finger at the accused and swears without a doubt he's the one who committed the crime. Juries are understandably swayed by such compelling testimony, and many cases are won on the strength of eyewitness identifications. But what if such testimony is wrong?

As anyone who has misplaced his keys knows, human memory is inherently fallible. The memory of a witness to a crime can be affected by many factors, including shock, the length of the incident and the fading of memory over time.

According to the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit, mistaken identifications are the leading factor in wrongful convictions. In fact, faulty eyewitness identifications caused more than 75 percent of the more than 185 wrongful convictions in the United States overturned by DNA evidence.

When the victim in the 1985 rape case in Fulton County involving Willie O. "Pete" Williams was questioned about her level of certainty that Williams attacked her, she testified that on a scale of one to 100, she was at "120."

Yet this past week, DNA evidence exonerated Williams, who has spent the last 21 years in prison.

Despite years of scientific, peer-reviewed data on the inaccuracies of standard eyewitness identification procedures, most police departments continue to employ traditional lineups as one of the most common ways to obtain evidence of a crime. Yet, simple steps can be taken to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identifications, leading to stronger cases for the prosecution and a greater likelihood that the actual perpetrator will be convicted of the crime.

Last year, I introduced House Bill 1256, known as the "Eyewitness Identification Accuracy Enhancement Act." The bill outlined four basic methods for improving eyewitness identification procedures in our state:

> Double-blind procedure —- use of a blind administrator: Police investigators who administer lineups often give subtle, unintentional cues to the witness involving the suspect. In a double-blind lineup, the administrator of the lineup does not know who the suspect is and can't give cues.

> Sequential presentation: Witnesses would be shown members of the lineup one at a time rather than all at once. Research has found that when members of the lineup are shown all at once, witnesses make a relative judgment comparing one person to the other, instead of relying on their memory to make an independent judgment.

> Instructions: Witnesses should be instructed that the suspect may or may not be in the lineup and that they should not feel compelled to make a selection.

> Confidence statements: Immediately following the lineup procedure, the witness' level of confidence in the identification made should be documented. If possible, the entire process should be documented by tape recording or in writing.

Although no criminal justice system is perfect and mistakes do occur, even with the most well-intentioned efforts of law enforcement, enacting these eyewitness identification reforms would significantly improve the quality of prosecutions in our state. The consequences of failing to do so are too grave. In the words of Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern University School of Law:

"Every time you arrest or convict the wrong person that means the person who really committed the crime is still out there. And they're going to do it again."

Last year, House Bill 1256 passed a House Judiciary subcommittee and full committee unanimously, with strong bipartisan support, but the measure failed to make it to the House floor for a vote. I intend to reintroduce the bill this session and hope that it will gain passage. If you feel as strongly about this as I do, please contact your state representative.

State Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield is a DeKalb County Democrat.