The Inaccuracy of Eyewitness Identifications In The Criminal Justice System

 

Incorporating Shifts in Social Science:

An eyewitness’s confidence is not a good predictor of his or her identification accuracy. For errors of Eyewitness identifications, studies of Eyewitness Identification mostly began in the 1970’s. Memory is not like a videorecording. Law enforcement in the United States has on more then one occasion used eyewitness testimony that has an underlying inherent inaccuracy. But, for the sole purpose of clearing their case or other inapporiate/unethical reason leading to the conviction of innocent individuals. Have you been charged with a Crime? Call me for a free consultation if you need a Lynchburg Criminal Defense Lawyer.

Checklist for Eyewitness Identification:

Estimator variables include:

• Duration of exposure
• Viewing conditions (lighting, distance, obstructions, etc.)
• Stress
• Presence of weapon (weapon focus)
• Cross-racial identification
• Disguise / hat
• Number of perpetrators
• Retention interval (time between incident and identification procedure)

System variables include:

• Type of ID procedure (showup, lineup or photo array, mug book, in-court ID)
• Fair/biased lineup (one suspect per lineup; suspect shouldn’t stand out; all fillers should match description)
• Blind or non-blind administration
• Pre-identification cautionary instructions
• Post-ID feedback
• Repeated viewings
• Co-witness contamination

The forgoing was gleaned, reviewed and learned  while attending the Innocence Network Conference in Chicago, IL, 2026. Thank you New York Innocence Project Attorney Matt Wasserman for sharing your research.

As part of further research and doctoral study, the article Culture and credibility: the assessment of asylum seekers’ statements in Psychology, Crime and Law was reviewed.(De Bruine, 2022) This was a fascinating article on how the memory process works. The article is relevant to wide array of applications in the legal field. “Culture influences how memories change over time…,” wow what a statement.(De Bruine, p.331) The authors mention “social contagion,” this is a real problem in the internet age, it destroys agency.

Encoding is an interesting concept that is different for literally every single human being.(De Bruine, p.325) Because, Encoding is based on our perceptions, cognitive interpretation and experiences. The authors focus on different culture context for how asylum seekers of the third world express their memories and claims for asylum but, encoding is not the same for any two persons anywhere. Because, they are discussing something that would be literally impossible for any two persons to duplicate exactly. How we perceive, remember and ultimately express the world around us is based off our individual experiences.

We have many or even most commonalties with how we encode as an individual or person compared to the group. But, there is likely and more accurately probably not a single person that encodes the exact same way as the person next to them. And, this is because everyone’s brain is different. There are no two brains the same. That’s like saying someone shares the same DNA as you. This is actually a really good reason to have positive law.(Brauch, p.129) A frame work or basis of conduct and criteria. Without that, we would be allotting power to extreme omnipotence or in the inverse feebility.

The authors discuss that cultural “bias and assumptions will generally not be disproved.” (De Burine, p.324) Most people have a hard time believing that they may be wrong about one subject matter or another, even when presented with hard irrefutable evidence. I think that detail is important, the article attacks this line of thinking but, if we just accept vast general statements then anything can mean anything to anyone.

This article is a scientific study of testimony. “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.” (Proverbs 19:9) Witness testimony is some of the least reliable evidence in a court room. Yet, this is what our system basis so much of its action from.

References

Holy Bible: The old and New Testament, Authorized King James Version (2019) Holman Bible Publishers.

Brauch, J. (2017). Flawed Perfection, What it Means to Be Human and Why it Matters for Culture, Politics, and Law. Lexham Press.

De Bruine, G., & Koppen, A. V. (2022, December 21). Culture and credibility: the assessment of asylum seekers’ statements. Retrieved March 2026, from Psychology, Crime and Law: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1068316X.2023.2279328#abstract

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