In an attempt to prevent a misidentification early in the proceeding, Monroe County Judge John L. DeMarco in People v. Flowers1 recently directed that certain ground rules be in place for a line-up. Judge DeMarco ordered that when administrating the line-up the police employ a “double blind” technique, where the person administrating the line-up does not know who the suspect is, and that sequential line-up procedures be utilized, where the witness views the persons in the line-up one at a time instead of all at once. Further, he ordered that the process be videotaped or photographed for the court’s review. These procedures help reduce the danger of two of the most common causes of false identifications from a line-up (NYLJ, Feb. 1).
Like the increasing understanding of false confessions which has smashed cherished myths that people never confess to crimes they didn’t commit, eyewitness reliability research has revealed that eyewitnesses, even those “certain” of their identification, are often wrong. Recognizing the staggering injustices brought about by juries’ naïve reliance on eyewitness evidence, New York courts are increasingly inclined to admit expert testimony to educate jurors on the flaws of eyewitness testimony. In addition, some courts are now trying to reduce the number of misidentifications by ordering law enforcement to change decades-old practices-related line-up procedures and interaction with eyewitnesses.
