mass who find crimes are often asked to identify suspect in a lineup . Traditionally , police would present them with six people simultaneously , five of whom are filler who are impeccant but resemble the suspect . Photo arrays are more common these twenty-four hours than live lineups , and previous studies found that these study well if the pictures are presented in a sequence , rather than all at once . Almost a third of U.S. law enforcement agencies have since take up this sequential procedure .
However , juries have been more and more encouraged to ignore eyewitness confidence . Eyewitness misidentification has toy a function in the legal age of 333 unlawful judgment of conviction that have been tip over since 1989 by desoxyribonucleic acid evidence , and research using mock commentator to simulated crimes have further challenged the accuracy of eyewitness confidence .
But now , according to findings write inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesthis hebdomad , the accuracy of eyewitness identifications during police lineups increases when the witnesses are sure-footed . " Most of the mistaken IDs were initially made with low self-confidence , not mellow confidence , " UC San Diego’sJohn Wixtedexplains in astatement . " In other words , the witnesses befittingly signalize that their designation were erroneousness - prone . "
Wixted ’s team examine the accuracy of 348 photo lineup identifications with actual eyewitnesses to crimes committed in Houston , Texas . These lineups – 187 cooccurring and 161 sequential – were presented by investigators in the Robbery Division of the Houston Police Department between January 22 and December 5 , 2013 . And the lineups were dual - blind : The suspect were alien to witnesser , and the investigators shell out the lineups did n’t screw the identify of the suspects either . The witnesses made their identification using a three - point confidence exfoliation : high , medium , or abject .
Eyewitness confidence , the team found , appeared to be a secure , authentic indicant of truth when an identification is made from a fair constabulary batting order . And astonishingly , coincident exposure lineups were better than successive one .
late reforms in the legal organization , the authors write , may necessitate to be reevaluated . " ignore low confidence in the get-go is a grievous error . The attestant is tell you that there ’s a good hazard they ’re making a mistake,“Wixted says . " To protect the innocent , it is important to realize that an initial low - self-assurance ID is untrustworthy . On the other hand , when lineups are fair and administered neutrally , high trust at the start can also be quite telling . "
