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How Lineups and Photo Arrays Can Lead to False Convictions
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How Lineups and Photo Arrays Can Lead to False Convictions
Eyewitness misidentification is a major cause of wrongful convictions in the United States. According to the Innocence Project, eyewitness misidentification played a role in over 70% of DNA exoneration cases. Lineups and photo arrays, tools commonly used by law enforcement to identify suspects, can be unreliable and lead to false accusations and convictions if not administered properly.
What are Lineups and Photo Arrays?
A lineup is when a witness is presented with a group of people, usually standing side-by-side, and asked if they recognize the perpetrator among them. A photo array is similar, except it uses pictures instead of live individuals. These identification procedures are used by police during criminal investigations to try to determine if a witness can identify the suspect from a group.
Problems with Lineups and Photo Arrays
While lineups and photo arrays can be useful tools, there are several issues that can lead to misidentifications:
- Improper composition – The fillers (non-suspects) may not adequately resemble the description of the perpetrator.
- Instructions – Witnesses may not be told the perpetrator may not be present in the lineup.
- Multiple viewings – Witnesses may view the same suspect in multiple identification procedures.
- Suggestiveness – Officers may intentionally or unintentionally influence the witness to pick the suspect.
- Lack of blind administration – The officer administering the lineup knows who the suspect is, which can influence the witness.
- Confidence inflation – A witness’s confidence can increase from viewing a lineup, even if incorrect.
False Identifications
These issues can lead witnesses to falsely identify innocent people as perpetrators. Even witnesses with good intentions can make mistakes. Human memory is malleable and fallible. Factors like poor viewing conditions, high stress, or implicit biases can all impact memory and recall. For example, studies show people are better at recognizing faces of their own race than other races.
Once a witness makes an identification from a lineup or photo array, they tend to stand by it with increased confidence, even if mistaken. This makes it difficult to undo a false identification. Juries also tend to give great weight to eyewitness testimony in court, even though it can be unreliable.
Reforms to Prevent Misidentifications
To improve the accuracy of lineups and photo arrays, law enforcement agencies and legal experts recommend reforms such as:
- Using blind administration – The officer conducting the lineup doesn’t know who the suspect is, preventing intentional or unintentional influencing of the witness.
- Instructing witnesses the perpetrator may not be present.
- Composing lineups with great care to avoid suggestiveness.
- Asking witnesses to state their confidence at the time of identification.
- Videotaping identification procedures to review for issues later.
- Avoiding multiple identification procedures with the same witness and suspect.
Even with improvements, human error remains. For this reason, some argue lineups should not be used without corroborating evidence. There have been over 365 DNA exonerations to date of people falsely convicted based on eyewitness misidentifications. People’s lives have been irreparably damaged from these mistakes.
Prominent Cases of False Convictions from Lineups
There are many heartbreaking cases of misidentification leading to wrongful conviction:
- Ronald Cotton – Was falsely identified by Jennifer Thompson as her rapist in 1984. Convicted and served over 10 years before being exonerated by DNA evidence. The real rapist, Bobby Poole, did not resemble Cotton.
- Kirk Bloodsworth – Served 9 years in prison, including time on death row, for rape and murder of a young girl before being exonerated by DNA evidence. Five eyewitnesses had identified him from lineups and in court.
- Santae Tribble – Convicted of murder based on an eyewitness identification and FBI hair analysis. Exonerated by DNA testing after 25 years in prison. The hair sample didn’t even match.
You can read about many other cases at the Innocence Project’s website. These cases highlight how even confident eyewitness identifications can be totally wrong. We must be cautious relying solely on eyewitness memory.
Conclusion
Lineups and photo arrays can provide critical evidence in criminal cases when properly administered. However, they also have the potential to destroy innocent lives through misidentification. Implementing reforms, like blind administration, can reduce errors. But human memory remains fallible, so corroborating evidence should be required. With diligence and care, we can work to reduce false convictions from mistaken witness identifications.