Reducing Wrongful Convictions by Improving Eyewitness Identification
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Reducing Wrongful Convictions by Improving Eyewitness Identification Approved: Dr. Cheryl Banachowski-Fuller Approved: May 09, 2017 ii Reducing Wrongful Convictions by Improving Eyewitness Identification A Seminar Research Paper Presented to the Graduate Faculty University of Wisconsin—Platteville In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Masters of Science in Criminal Justice Kelsey L. Henke May 2017 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The last two years on the path to earning my Master’s Degree has been one of the hardest things I have done in my life. It has taken an immense amount of strength, communication, time management, and passion to have reached this point. To say I got here alone would just not be true or fair. I could not possibly go on without thanking every professor and staff member at UW—Platteville who has had even the most minor role in my educational journey, but especially Dr. Susan Hilal and Dr. Cheryl Banachowski-Fuller. I have felt incapable and inferior, but your words of advice, persistence, and patience have helped me believe in myself. Thank you for being a great support during the most challenging part of my life. To my number one supporter in my life, my fiancé, Ryan—thank you for being you. You have picked me up when I’ve been at my lowest in the last ten years and pushed me because you believed I could do anything when I didn’t think I possibly could. I’ve made it because of the strength you have helped give me and I hope I can do the same for you. Thank you for being my number one fan and loving all of me with no hesitations. I am amazed by you. To my coworkers and friends—thank you for understanding. I know I have missed many things having to stay up late by myself, occupying my entire weekend with assignments, and putting you second to my education. I owe you so much for kind words, consideration, and acceptance of this wild ride I’ve been on. And especially to Katie and Brooke, for being right by my side during countless hours-long sessions of reading and writing at Starbucks, pushing me to do my best and always being there. To my parents, Mark and Cathi—thank you for believing in me. I did not plan to go back to school so soon, but you encouraged the idea knowing that I could do it. The ability to even be here right now is thanks to your assistance from the beginning of my schooling career. I hope I made you as proud I dream I have. iv ABSTRACT Purpose This purpose of this research paper is to promote change within the criminal justice system—most specifically law enforcement—in order to decrease the number of individuals that are wrongfully convicted. This paper reviews current policies for eyewitness identification and its effects on convictions in the United States. Eyewitness identification has been used throughout the years as a common way to identify a perpetrator and guide a court case to conviction. Unfortunately, the United States’ criminal justice system is not without flaws and as a result of biased and improper eyewitness identification procedures, there have been many innocent individuals convicted of crimes that they did not commit. Since it has been identified that eyewitness misidentification is a primary source of wrongful convictions, it is necessary that eyewitness identification measures are conducted by police who emphasize being unbiased, fair, and can ensure a just investigation. With improved and universal lineup and identification practices, the number of innocent individuals convicted and imprisoned for crimes they did not commit can decrease and actual perpetrators can be held responsible for their actions. Methods of Approach The primary method for collecting data is through a review of secondary sources which include websites, government and agency reports, and recent peer-reviewed scholarly articles. Information was also gathered from agencies such as the Innocence Project, the National Registry of Exonerations, the Justice Project, and the National Summit on Wrongful Convictions which are in support of enhanced and reformed v eyewitness identification conduct. Current policies in Wisconsin are also reviewed with relevance to the audience. These as well as Hennepin County, Minnesota’s policies are used as examples to encourage proper eyewitness identification procedures. Summary of Findings The findings show that there is a need for nation-wide change in order to decrease the number of individuals who are arrested, questioned, and ultimately convicted each year and are later found to be innocent. This becomes a case of citizens not receiving due process of law that they rightfully deserve. As part of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments in the United States, everyone has the right to a fair investigation which involves unbiased and truthful professionals. The current research finds that wrongful convictions continue to occur, but the number of exonerations has been rising due to advocacy organizations, Innocence Projects, and Conviction Integrity Units that fight for retrials to help grant innocence to those who have lost much of their life to prison. It is necessary that proper and consistent training be provided to all law enforcement agencies, lineups be conducted double-blind and sequentially, and Conviction Integrity Units be created and implemented throughout the United States in counties with major cities. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page Title Page Acknowledgements Abstract Table of Contents Section I: Introduction Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………….....1 Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………2 Significance or Implications of the Study…………………………………………2 Methods of Approach…………………………..…………………………………3 Section II: Literature Review Definitions and Statistics………………………………………………………….4 Causes of Wrongful Convictions………………………………………………….6 Improper Practice and its Implications…………………………………………..11 Best Practices in Eyewitness Identification……………………………………...11 How Instructions are Given……………………………………………...14 Blind vs. Double Blind…………………………………………………..15 Sequential vs. Simultaneous……………………………………………..16 Current Exoneration Projects…………………………………………………….18 Section III: Theoretical Framework Signal Detection Theory…………………………………………………………21 Application of Signal Detection Theory to Eyewitness Misidentification………22 vii Labeling Theory………………………………………………………………….23 Application of Labeling Theory to Eyewitness Misidentification……………….24 Section IV: Recommendations to Improve Eyewitness Misidentification Training…….………………………………………………………………….…26 Conducting of Lineups…………………………………………………………...27 Use of Conviction Integrity Units………………………………………………..28 Section V: Summary and Conclusion……………………………………………………30 References………………………………………………………………………………..31 1 Section I. INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem The purpose of the criminal justice system is to deliver justice for all by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent. Unfortunately, all systems are not perfect and each has its flaws. Each year, the United States’ criminal justice system makes the mistake of arresting, holding, convicting, and sentencing innocent citizens by mistake. It has been estimated that at least four percent of people on death row are likely innocent and there are several examples of individuals that are pardoned after their execution (Gross, O’Brien, Hu, & Kennedy, 2014). Fortunately, there are several organizations that exist solely to exonerate or liberate wrongfully convicted people and this has been successful due to things such as DNA identification, laboratory tests, and retrials. The Innocence Project (2016) has been able to individually discover and exonerate 349 wrongful convictions in the United States. In half of these cases, eyewitness testimony was used as the main piece of evidence against the defendant and led to their conviction. The Innocence Project (2016) also estimates that eyewitness misidentification plays a role in over 70% of exonerations through DNA in the United States. In a much broader sense, it has been estimated that there have been thousands of individuals throughout history that have been falsely convicted, but may have and the true number may never be known. The National Registry of Exoneration (2016) has a current count of 1,900 total exonerations in the United States and over 500 having partially involved an inaccurate identification of the perpetrator. Clearly this illustrates the need to focus specifically on the role of police officers and how identification 2 procedures are conducted. As the source of a large percentage of wrongful convictions, the most attention must be placed on ensuring eyewitness identification is done in an unbiased and thorough manner. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to identify, describe, and analyze different components of police lineups and eyewitness identification. Eyewitness misidentification is the most common cause of wrongful convictions in the United States and accounts for more wrongful convictions than all other causes combined (The Justice Project, 2007; The Innocence Project, 2016). With this, the goal of the present paper is to recommend effective components of questioning for use by police officers across the country. Each state has different policies and procedures, but it is necessary to implement the same unbiased practices that yield the most accurate results across all locations. Significance or Implications of the Study With incorrect eyewitness identification eliminated, a large percentage of wrongful convictions would not