Factsheets and Memos

Innocence Project: "Eyewitness Identification Reform" (June 2006) Innocence Project: "'The Folder System': A Recommended Practice for the 'Blind' Administration of Eyewitness Procedures for Small Police Departments with Limited Resources" (2006) Innocence Project: "Frequently Asked Questions About Implementing a Double-Blind, Sequential Eyewitness Identification Reform" (2006) Innocence Project: "Partial List of Citations Supporting Eyewitness Identification Reform" NACDL/ NLADA: "Reforming Eyewitness ID in Your State" (Nov. 24, 2004; Members Only)

Endorsements and Resolutions

American Bar Association: Resolution on Eyewitness Identification Procedures (Aug. 9-10, 2004) American Council of Chief Defenders: Resolution Supporting Eyewitness Procedural Reform (Dec. 4, 2004)

Model Legislation and Guidelines

Innocence Project: "An Act to Fund Pilot Field Programs to Improve the Accuracy of Eyewitness Identifications" (2006) Innocence Project: "An Act to Create a Task Force to Recommend Procedures and Practices to Improve the Accuracy of Eyewitness Identifications" (2006)

State Legislation

Our state legislation page has links to recent bills that have been introduced and, in some cases passed, on eyewitness identification reform from numerous states.

State Laws

Illinois: Public Act 093-0605, SB 472 (2003) Maryland: Ch. 590; HB 103 (2007) North Carolina: Session Law 2007-421; HB 1625 (2007) Virginia: HB 2632 (2005) West Virginia: SB 82 (2007) Wisconsin: AB 648 (2005)

Litigation Strategies

NACDL: "Trying the Eyewitness Case: Applying the Science" (Oct. 16, 2004; Members Only) Timothy O'Toole: "Eyewitness Identification Reform: The Role of Litigation in Spurring Legislative Reform" (July 2006; Members Only)

Case Law, Briefs and Motions

David Feige, Bronx Defenders: New York v. Franco - Motion for a Double Blind Sequential Line-Up (2001) Supreme Court, Kings County: In the Matter of an Investigation of Rahim Thomas, Nov. 7, 2001

Reports

Brian Cutler, University of North Carolina at Charlotte: "Overview of Estimator Variables" (2004) Center on Wrongful Convictions: "How Mistaken & Perjured Eyewitness ID Testimony Put 46 Innocent Americans on Death Row" (2001) Vermont: "Report of the Eyewitness Identification and Custodial Interrogation Study Committee" (December 14, 2007)

Illinois Report Resources

Illinois State Police: "The Illinois Pilot Program on Sequential Double-Blind Identification Procedures" Report    Appendix    Addendum (2006) Rebecca Brown, Innocence Project: "Memorandum on NACDL's Teleconference on the Illinois Report" (May 10, 2006; Members Only) Innocence Project: "Response to the Illinois Pilot Program Report" (2006) Gary L. Wells: "Comments on the Illinois Report" (2006) Lawrence W. Sherman: "'To Develop and Test:' The Inventive Difference Between Evaluation and Experimentation" (2006) Prof. Nancy Steblay: "Observations on the Illinois Lineup Data" (May 3, 2006) Timothy O'Toole: "What's the Matter with Illinois?" The Champion (2006) Wisconsin Office of the Attorney General: "Response to Chicago Report on Eyewitness Identification Procedures" (2006)

Law Review and Journal Articles (incl. The Champion)

Doyle, James M.: "Two Stories of Eyewitness Error," The Champion, Nov. 2003 Feige, David L.: "'I'll Never Forget that Face': The Science and Law of the Double-Blind Sequential Lineup," The Champion, Jan./Feb. 2003 O'Toole, Timothy P. and Giovanna Shay, "Manson v. Brathwaite Revisited: Towards a New Rule of Decision for Due Process Challenges to Eyewitness Identification Procedures," Valparaiso University Law Review (forthcoming) Steele, Lisa: "Trying Identification Cases: An Outline For Raising Eyewitness ID Issues," The Champion, Nov. 2004 Wells, G.L, "Eyewitness Identification: Systemic Reforms," Wisconsin Law Review, vol. 2006, no. 2. Wells, G.L., Mark Small, et al., "Eyewitness Identification Procedures: Recommendations for Lineups and Photospreads," Law and Human Behavior, Vol. 22, No.6, 1998. Wells, G.L. & Seelau, E.P. (1995), "Eyewitness identification: Psychological Research and Legal Policy on Lineups," Psychology, Public Policy & Law, Vol. 1, pp. 765-791.

Police Department Eyewitness ID Procedures and Guidelines

National Institute of Justice: "Eyewitness Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement" (Oct. 1999) ) National Institute of Justice: "Eyewitness Evidence: A Trainer's Manual for Law Enforcement" (Sept. 2003) New Jersey Attorney General: "Guidelines for Eyewitness Identification Procedures" (April 18, 2001) Wisconsin Office of the Attorney General: "Model Policy and Procedure for Eyewitness Identification" (Sept. 12, 2005)

Media Coverage

See NACDL's Eyewitness Identification Reform Page for the most recent media coverage. See the News Archive for older new articles.

Mistaken Eyewitness Identifications

Marvin Anderson, Virginia: "Eyewitness ID Fallibility Shown," By Frank Green, Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 16, 2003 Ronald Cotton, North Carolina: "I Was Certain, But I Was Wrong," By Jennifer Thompson, The New York Times, June 18, 2000 Larry Fuller, Texas: "As Innocent Man Freed, Lawyer Criticizes System," By Robert Tharp, Dallas Morning News, Nov. 1, 2006 Dennis Maher, Massachusetts: "Nineteen Years Later, Innocence Comes Home," By Dick Lehr, Boston Globe, Oct. 12, 2003

Links

David Feige, Bronx Defenders: Eyewitness ID Issues Eyewitness ID Reform Blog Eyewitness Identification Research Laboratory at UTEP The Innocence Project: Mistaken I.D.s New York State Defenders Association: Eyewitness evidence PBS Frontline: Examining Eyewitness Errors in Crimes Prof. Gary Wells' Home Page

If you can't find what you're looking for, please contact us: scott@nacdl.org.