Eyewitness Misidentification
The Problem
Misidentification is a leading cause of wrongful convictions later overturned by DNA evidence. Whether due to perjury or eyewitness/victim error, innocent people are spending time behind bars for crimes they did not commit. The criminal justice system puts a lot of faith in eyewitness testimony, but it actually is highly unreliable.
The Scope of the Problem
The percentage of cases where an exoneree was convicted in large part due to faulty identification, and later exonerated through DNA testing, is approximately 75%. However, the full scope of the problem is unknown because of instances where prosecutors drop cases or defendants are acquitted or have their case reversed on appeal. While appellate decisions are published and readily available online, the problem with trial acquittals, reversals, and dropped cases, is that they are not systematically catalogued, so there is no way to know the role of eyewitness testimony in those cases.
Minnesota has a Solution
In the 2020 legislative session, Minnesota passed a law that requires all law enforcement agencies in the state to follow mandated best practices consistent with those recommended by the National Academy of Science. These are:
Blind/Blinded Administration: The officer administering the lineup is unaware of the suspect’s identity, or if that is not practical, the administrator is “blinded” using a technique such as the “folder shuffle method” for photo lineups that prevents him or her from seeing which lineup member is being viewed by the witness.
Instructions: Prior to the procedure, the witness should be instructed that the perpetrator may or may not be in the lineup.
Proper Use of “Non-Suspect” Fillers: Non-suspect “fillers” used in the lineup should match the witness’s description of the perpetrator.
Confidence Statements: Immediately after an identification is made the eyewitness should provide a statement, in his or her own words, that articulates their level of confidence in the identification.
These reforms will reduce wrongful convictions and help ensure that actual perpetrators are prosecuted. GNIP is grateful to Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen, Representative Dave Pinto and Senator Ron Latz for their leadership in the passage of this important bill.