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The Austin American-Statesman on Eyewitness ID

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"Photo lineups that follow best practices," is the Statesman editorial from the Thursday edition.We're talking about an initiative by Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo to devise written policies that govern how investigators conduct photo lineups. Acevedo said last week that his agency would adopt best practices to prevent wrongful convictions. That is a welcome change that the Travis County Sheriff's Office and other Central Texas law enforcement departments should also adopt. Many innocent people across the country have been convicted based on faulty eyewitness identifications that came out of lineups, which ultimately were found to be defective. Some lineups were intentionally rigged. In a highly publicized case earlier this year, Travis County state District Judge Charlie Baird pointed to a "suggestive lineup" by the Lubbock police department as a key factor in leading a rape victim to finger an innocent man...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on May 15, 2009 (boomark / email).