Eyewitness Misidentification: A Mistake That Blinds Investigations, Sways Juries, And Locks Innocent People Behind Bars
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Authors
Stenzel, Carla
Issue Date
2017-06
Volume
50
Issue
3
Type
Journal Article
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION|The very first exoneration in the United States took place on August 14, 1989. On that day, DNA evidence freed Gary Dotson from his wrongful rape conviction. Since then, exonerations have become somewhat common in the United States. Today, the leading cause of wrongful convictions is eyewitness misidentification. In over seventy percent of DNA-based exonerations, eyewitness misidentification helped seal the innocent person's conviction. Eyewitness misidentification is most likely to occur when a stranger commits a crime toward another. The two most common types of crimes committed by a stranger are robbery and rape. In 2005, eighty-eight percent of the defendants convicted of rape and later exonerated had been wrongfully convicted based on a faulty identification by the victim of the crime. In most of these exonerations, DNA evidence cleared the defendant's name. Due to a lack of DNA evidence in robberies, many misidentified defendants may still be in...
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Publisher
Creighton University School of Law