Due Process Challenges to Eyewitness Identification Based on Pre-Trial Photographic Arrays

Abstract:     
Studies have shown that jurors tend to trust eyewitness testimony and evidentiary rules permit juries to convict solely on the basis of an eyewitness’ identification. Eyewitness testimony has been shown to be unreliable, however, and nearly fifty percent of those wrongly convicted were convicted based on eyewitness identification. This articles outlines the application of current procedural safeguards to protect an accused who has been the subject of a pretrial identification based on a photo array. It also explores the "fit" between the predictors of reliability, as demonstrated by empirical studies, and the rulings on reliability made by the courts.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 47

Keywords: Eyewitness Testimony, Identification, Wrongful Convictions

Accepted Paper Series