Reducing Mistaken Eyewitness Identifications
Mistaken eyewitness identifications play a major role in convictions that are later overturned because of DNA evidence. A good deal of research has focused on the police lineup, in which victims and witnesses attempt to distinguish a suspect from other individuals presented. A recent study investigated which lineup method resulted in fewer mistaken identifications: sequential (in which the witness views lineup members one at a time and makes a decision on each member) or simultaneous (in which the witness views the entire lineup at once).
Read the NIJ Journal article To Err is Human: Using Science to Reduce Mistaken Eyewitness Identifications Through Police Lineups.
