Changing the face of witness ID procedure
Benfield seeks to end miscarriages of justice
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
Benfield
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Sometimes the innocent victim of crime is the one convicted of it” – Georgia Innocence Project
Clarence Harrison can tell you about the fallibility of the eyewitness identification process when used to convict someone of a crime.
In 1987, Harrison was convicted in DeKalb County and sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years on charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping for crimes he did not commit.
The victim identified him in a photo lineup and later in court, but it wasn’t until 2004 that DNA evidence cleared Harrison of any wrongdoing.
He spent more than 17 years behind bars for nothing, while the true perpetrator likely roamed free to continue terrorizing the community.
Now thanks in part to the work of a state lawmaker Stephanie Stuckey Benfield [D-Atlanta] the witness identification process used by law enforcement departments across Georgia might be fundamentally changed.
This session Benfield, who represents parts of central and south DeKalb, will introduce a bill designed to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identification. It’s the third time Benfield, a former public defender in Fulton County, has introduced legislation related to improving the way eyewitness ID procedures are conducted.
Known as the Eyewitness Identification Accuracy Enhancement Act, it calls for all state law enforcement agencies to develop written procedures on how to conduct proper eyewitness identifications by 2009. By 2011, all photo and live lineups must be administered by an officer who is trained in these methods. All future photo and live lineups will be audio or video taped to see more clearly how the eyewitness came to his or her conclusion.
“It all comes down to training,” said Benfield, who chaired the House Committee on Eyewitness Identification Procedures that met throughout the fall and heard testimony from leading experts across the globe.
“We can pass all the requirements the science shows to make a difference on how these lineups are conducted, but unless the law enforcement officers on the front lines are adequately trained it’s not going to make a difference,” she said.
Part of that will mean adding a two-hour training course to focus solely on how to conduct effective lineups. Currently it’s half hour training for beginning officers. One of the most important aspects will be that a neutral administrator conduct the lineups, someone who does not know who the suspect is.
Often inadvertent, subtle clues can and have been given to witnesses who have just been through a life-altering tragedy, said Benfield.
“In some cases if the witness identifies person No. 3 in a lineup and No. 3 is a suspect, the officer might tell the victim ‘good job, good job,’” said Benfield. “And the officer might mean it in a comforting way to a rape victim who’s undergone a horrific ordeal, but at the same time that could be s subtle hint to the witness that they picked the right guy. With a neutral administrator you avoid any of that conflict.”
According to the Georgia Innocence Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping individuals who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit, mistaken eyewitness identifications are the leading factors in wrongful convictions.
Faulty eyewitness IDs caused more than 75 percent of the more than 200 wrongful convictions in the U.S. that have since been overturned by DNA evidence, GIP said. With the release of John White [wrongly convicted of rape in 1979] last month, seven Georgians have now been cleared using DNA.
In all the state cases, eyewitness identification by the victim was a leading factor in their wrongful conviction.
Aimee Maxwell, executive director of GIP, said the proposed changes will help give uniformity and standards to a practice that has heretofore been conducted in a “fly by the seat of their pants” manner.
“Recording exactly what happens during the ID, making sure there is a neutral administrator, using only one suspect per lineup and all under a written procedure will go a long way in helping makes this a better system,” said Maxwell. “Eyewitness IDs are just like trace evidence – if you mess it up at the beginning, it’s all tainted.”
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said law enforcement agencies understand the fallibility of eyewitness accounts and they are moving to expand their protocols. It’s unlikely, he said, that simple eyewitness accounts would convict anyone today.
“No one wants to arrest and convict the wrong person,” said Bankhead. “Anything that improves the way we do thing, we support.”
Benfield said the last hurdle might be finding funding for the new training, which will cost anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000. It will most likely be a combination of private and public funding. But it’s a pittance, she said, compared to the millions the state has paid out to Georgians wrongly convicted.
“We’re looking at another pay out this year of at least $1 million this session to Robert Clark [wrongly convicted in Cobb County in 1982, he spent 25 years behind bars]” said Benfield.
“That’s taxpayers dollars all for wrongful convictions. And instead, if we can do training that’s going to cost $20,000 to $40,000 as a one-time upfront expenditure, even basic math shows it’s a no-brainer. We ought to be training law enforcement properly, we ought to make sure these crimes are being prosecuted as effectively as possible and that’s in everyone’s best interest. I think the state should and will step up to the plate.”
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