Last night on 60 Minutes there was a great report on the reliability of eyewitness testimony. The report featured a woman who was raped by a man of a different race. She said that she actually studied his face during the rape trying to remember details. She was presented with a photo lineup and after 5 minutes picked one of the men and said "that is the man that raped me." Later in court, the woman positively identified the man as the person who raped her. The jury took about 40 minutes to convict.
The Defendant went through the appeal process to no avail. Later he is serving time with a man who confessed to the rape to another inmate. The Defendant went back to court for a new trial. The Defendant was again convicted on the eyewitness testimony of the victim who was certain. The defense even called the inmate who confessed to the rape and the eyewitness could not identify him. After serving ten years in prison, the Defendant was exonerated by DNA that confirmed he did not rape the woman and the person who did was not able to be identified by the eyewitness even with him sitting in the same courtroom with her.
This should be a story that changes the eyewitness identification procedure. It did in North Carolina where this happened. However, in Texas people are routinely identified by photo spreads. The answer seems to me to be at least limiting instructions on eyewitness testimony and as DNA becomes more affordable require it in cases where there is any sample to compare. The Innocence Project has been responsible for hundreds of DNA exonerations nationwide. This is something that defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges and law enforcement should agree to present a united front. None of us are advanced by convicting the WRONG PERSON.
Deu 17:6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
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