Report: Most Georgia Police Have No Eyewitness Guidelines

By The Associated Press (Atlanta), September 16, 2007

Hundreds of law enforcement agencies in Georgia have no specific guidelines governing the collection of eyewitness evidence, according to a preliminary report from the Georgia Innocence Project.

Eighty-three percent of the 296 police agencies surveyed by the group reported no written rules on the handling of eyewitness identification, the group found.

The Georgia Innocence Project is set to present the findings of their report at a legislative hearing on Monday at the state Capitol. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press.

State lawmakers are considering legislation to tighten eyewitness guidelines on the heels of several high-profile cases in Georgia, and elsewhere across the country, where prisoners have been cleared by DNA evidence. Of the 205 people exonerated by post-conviction DNA evidence in the United States, 75 percent involved faulty eyewitness identification. Six of those were in Georgia.

Most recently, questions about eyewitness identification have cast doubt on the conviction of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, who was found guilty of killing a police officer. He is awaiting a hearing before the Georgia Supreme Court. Davis' lawyers are asking for a new trial because they say several witnesses who initially testified against their client have since recanted or contradicted their testimony.

The Georgia Innocence Project, which was involved in the cases of three of the men cleared in Georgia, has been pushing for uniformity and higher standards for the ID process. The group argues that witnesses are not intentionally fabricating information but that human memory is fallible.

The group compiled its report after sending open records requests to 500 law enforcement agencies throughout Georgia. Of those, 130 failed to respond. The group has analyzed 296 of the responses received so far.

The survey found that 9 percent of respondents used Peace Officer Standards and Training guidelines for eyewitness matters. Eleven percent -- mostly smaller departments -- don't conduct lineups at all, relying instead on the GBI or local sheriff's officials.

Twenty percent of those surveyed have a policy of sequestering witnesses -- separating them from other witnesses, victims, or suspects -- before conducting eyewitness identification procedures.

Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, an Atlanta Democrat, fought to pass an eyewitness ID bill last year. But opposition by prosecutors brought the measure to a standstill.

Benfield is leading a study committee that will kick off hearings on Monday.Among those invited to attend Monday's session at the state Capitol are the six men exonerated in Georgia.