Committee on Scientific Approaches to Understanding and Maximizing the Validity and Reliability of Eyewitness Identification in Law Enforcement and the Courts
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification Committee on Scientific Approaches to Understanding and Maximizing the Validity and Reliability of Eyewitness Identification in Law Enforcement and the Courts Committee on Science, Technology, and Law Policy and Global Affairs Committee on Law and Justice Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Govern- ing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineer- ing, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study was funded by a grant between the National Academy of Sciences and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or rec- ommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not nec- essarily reflect the views of the organization that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number13: 978-0-309-31059-8 International Standard Book Number10: 0-309-31059-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014955458 Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Room 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu. Copyright 2014 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Acad- emy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding en- gineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineer- ing programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is presi- dent of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Insti- tute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification COMMITTEE ON SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING AND MAXIMIZING THE VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATION IN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE COURTS Co-Chairs THOMAS D. ALBRIGHT (NAS), Professor and Director, Vision Center Laboratory and Conrad T. Prebys Chair in Vision Research, Salk Institute for Biological Studies JED S. RAKOFF, Senior Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Members WILLIAM G. BROOKS III, Chief of Police, Norwood (MA) Police Department JOE S. CECIL, Project Director, Division of Research, Federal Judicial Center WINRICH FREIWALD, Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University BRANDON L. GARRETT, Roy L. and Rosamond Woodruff Morgan Professor of Law, University of Virginia Law School KAREN KAFADAR, Commonwealth Professor and Chair of Statistics, University of Virginia A.J. KRAMER, Federal Public Defender for the District of Columbia SCOTT McNAMARA, Oneida County (NY) District Attorney CHARLES ALEXANDER MORGAN III, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine ELIZABETH A. PHELPS, Silver Professor of Psychology and Neural Science, New York University DANIEL J. SIMONS, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois ANTHONY D. WAGNER, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Co-Director, Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging, Stanford University; Director, Stanford Memory Laboratory JOANNE YAFFE, Professor of Social Work and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, University of Utah v Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification Staff ANNE-MARIE MAZZA, Study Director and Director, Committee on Science, Technology, and Law ARLENE F. LEE, Director, Committee on Law and Justice STEVEN KENDALL, Program Officer, Committee on Science, Technology, and Law KAROLINA KONARZEWSKA, Program Coordinator, Committee on Science, Technology, and Law ANJALI SHASTRI, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow SARAH WYNN, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow vi Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND LAW Co-Chairs DAVID BALTIMORE (NAS/IOM), President Emeritus and Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology, California Institute of Technology DAVID S. TATEL, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Members THOMAS D. ALBRIGHT (NAS), Professor and Director, Vision Center Laboratory and Conrad T. Prebys Chair in Vision Research, Salk Institute for Biological Studies ANN ARVIN (IOM), Lucile Packard Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology and Immunology; Vice Provost and Dean of Research, Stanford University BARBARA E. BIERER, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School CLAUDE CANIZARES (NAS), Vice President and the Bruno Rossi Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ARTURO CASADEVALL (IOM), Leo and Julia Forchheimer Professor of Microbiology and Immunology; Chair, Department of Biology and Immunology; and Professor of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine JOE S. CECIL, Project Director, Program on Scientific and Technical Evidence, Division of Research, Federal Judicial Center R. ALTA CHARO (IOM), Warren P. Knowles Professor of Law and Bioethics, University of Wisconsin at Madison HARRY T. EDWARDS, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit DREW ENDY, Associate Professor, Bioengineering, Stanford University and President, The BioBricks Foundation MARCUS FELDMAN (NAS), Burnet C. and Mildred Wohlford Professor of Biological Sciences, Stanford University JEREMY FOGEL, Director, Federal Judicial Center HENRY T. GREELY, Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Professor, by courtesy, of Genetics, Stanford University MICHAEL GREENBERGER, Law School Professor and Director, Center for Health and Homeland Security, University of Maryland BENJAMIN W. HEINEMAN, JR., Senior Fellow, Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government vii Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification MICHAEL IMPERIALE, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan GREG KISOR, Chief Technologist, Intellectual Ventures GOODWIN LIU, Associate Justice, California Supreme Court JENNIFER MNOOKIN, David G. Price and Dallas P. Price Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law R. GREGORY MORGAN, Vice President and General Counsel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ALAN B. MORRISON, Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law, George Washington University Law School CHERRY MURRAY (NAS/NAE), Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University ROBERTA NESS (IOM), Dean and M. David Low Chair in Public