What is a problem associated with lineups?

The police lineup represents an essential tool of the criminal justice system, but several problems are associated with its use: overbelief in lineup identification, all-or-none nature of the lineup, similarity of foils to the suspect, failure to choose the offender, and small lineup size.

Should lineups be used for suspect identification?

California Laws and Procedures on Police Lineups If an eyewitness can positively identify a suspect out of a group on people, it can be used as critical evidence in a jury trial. Police lineups in California are used for a witness to identify a crime suspect among other similar looking people.

What are the problems with eyewitness identification?

Extreme witness stress at the crime scene or during the identification process. Presence of weapons at the crime (because they can intensify stress and distract witnesses). Use of a disguise by the perpetrator such as a mask or wig. A racial disparity between the witness and the suspect.

What is a problem associated with simultaneous lineups in eyewitness identification?

Repeated identical lineups did not increase accuracy of identifying the suspect. Although participants were more likely to choose someone from a second lineup than a first lineup, they were no more accurate in picking the suspect.

What are the negative effects of eyewitness testimony?

There is also evidence that mistaken eyewitness evidence can lead to wrongful conviction—sending people to prison for years or decades, even to death row, for crimes they did not commit. Faulty eyewitness testimony has been implicated in at least 75\% of DNA exoneration cases—more than any other cause (Garrett, 2011).

Do lineups still appear to be effective Why or why not?

The Sequential Lineup Recent Department of Justice studies have found that witnesses are more likely to identify the guilty person in a sequential lineup due to the lower risk of comparison between individuals.

Why are sequential lineups better?

According to the absolute-relative judgment theory (Wells, 1984), sequential lineups result in better witness discrimination because the format encourages people to make a strict judgment against their own memory.

What are some of the factors that might influence an individual’s identification?

Factors Leading to Mistaken Identification

• Stress.
• Presence of a weapon.
• Confidence level.
• Cross-racial identification.
• Pressure to choose.
• Influence after the fact.
• Transference.
• Multiple perpetrators.

Why we should use eyewitness testimony?

While its role is complex, eyewitness testimony is a crucial part of the criminal justice system. When a legal team presents an eyewitness who can confidently identify the suspect and confirm that they saw them commit a crime, jurors are compelled to believe them.

What is the purpose of having counsel present at a lineup?

Courts have found that a defendant’s counsel is necessary at a lineup because these lineups provide the potential for both intentional and unintentional errors. Without the defendant’s attorney present at the lineup, these errors may not be discovered and remedied prior to trial.

What are lineup strategies that the legal system can make so that mistaken eyewitness identification is less likely?

Ensure that police put in writing why a suspect is believed to be guilty of a specific crime before placing him or her in a lineup. Use a lineup with several people instead of what is known as a showup only featuring a single suspect. Avoid repetition of a lineup with the same suspect and same eyewitness.

What do you need to know about police lineup?

About Police Lineups. The typical police lineup usually consists of placing a criminal suspect in a group of other individuals who had nothing to do with the crime. The eyewitness is tasked with the responsibility of identifying the suspect. One way to perform a police lineup is to have the eyewitness identify a suspect during a live lineup.

Why do Witnesses select the suspect from the lineup?

Prior research has documented that the witness may select the suspect from the lineup due either to misplaced familiarity from seeing the mugshot or to their prior commitment from identifying the suspect from the mugshot.

What are the most important issues surrounding lineups?

An important issue surrounding lineups is that law enforcement officers intentionally or inadvertently may give the eyewitness signals to identify the suspect. In some lineups, individuals who are not suspects may not resemble the description provided by the witness.

What rights do criminal suspects have during a police lineup?

Another right that criminal suspects have during a police lineup is to be free from an identification process that is unnecessarily suggestive. If a law enforcement officer pressures a witness to identify a particular person in the lineup, the suspect’s rights may have been violated.