Miscellaneous

Photo Finish

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Why not use photo lineups? Let us count the ways!

• 1. Studies show that simultaneous lineups (where all pictures are grouped together) cause the viewer to compare the suspects to one another rather than to his or her own memory. Experts recommend, instead, the use of sequential lineups (pictures shown in a sequence).


• 2. Studies also show that eyewitness evidence is more-or-less untrustworthy


• 3. It's sooo Joe Friday!

A man unsuccessfully fought a conviction based in part on victim identification of him via a photo lineup. The lineup consisted of five photos on a single sheet. Counter-intuitive to #1, above, his challenge was that the photos were overly-suggestive because some had facial hair and glasses (one suspect had facial hair; none wore glasses), and two were older than the description of the suspect.

See Court Rejects Photo Lineup Appeal of Convicted Burglar, Joe Pinchot, Sharon Herald (February 25, 2008).

See also Giving False Witness, Karen Wiens, Hypercube (November 14, 2006), and Police Lineups: Making Eyewitness Identification More Reliable, Beth Schuster, NIJ Journal, no. 258 (October 2007).

And if your kid is strapped for a science fair project, or if you just want to kill some time and experiment on your friends, see Testing for Bias in a Photo Lineup, courtesy Science Buddies.

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on February 26, 2008 (boomark / email).