Eyewitness Evidence Unreliable

Posted by Rob Harris at 10/14/2008 12:35 PM
Categories: uncategorized
The development and introduction of of DNA evidence has not only freed many innocent people, but I think just as importantly,  has proved what criminal defense attorneys have been saying for years. Eyewitness identification testimony is not reliable, but is still the basis for many convictions, as this article in the Dallas Morning News report points out.

We won't, and shouldn't, bar eyewitness testimony because its sometimes wrong. But two things do come to mind here.

First, a limiting instruction should be standard when the prosecutor offers such testimony.

And second, capital punishment should never be imposed in cases where the prosecutor uses eyewitness identification to obtain a conviction.


 

What did you think of this article?




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