With DNA exonerating more and more innocent people on a daily basis, law makers and police departments around the country are looking for ways to ensure more accurate photo lineups.  A new computer program slated to be put into use by Dallas, TX police will hopefully provide some insight as to why there are so many inaccurate choices made by witnesses. 

The procedure in Dallas is for a detective to show an eyewitness six photos of “suspects”.  Five are photos that are somewhat similar and the sixth photo of the suspect.  Since 1989, DNA has exonerated 220 people across the country.  Of those, 75% were initially convicted based on photo lineups.  Further, Dallas County leads the country in inaccurate lineup picks.  Of the 19 exonerations in Dallas County, all but one was due to inaccurate eyewitness picks during photo lineups. 

The new study, designed to lessen the possibility of an inaccurate pick, will include at least 800 lineups and will only be done in Dallas County’s robberies and assaults divisions.  Police will load six photographs into a computer; one of the suspect and the remaining five that are similar in size, hair color, etc. of the suspect.  The computer program will then randomly determine if the photographs will be viewed simultaneously with all six photos on one screen, or sequentially, with one photo at a time via a slide show.  The computer program will also determine if the computer itself will conduct the lineup or if a detective will lead the photo display. 

These tests, conducted by The Urban Institute in Washington, DC, will hopefully determine if a detective’s body language and unconscious verbal cues influence a witness’s pick. 

One of the first cases that was overturned by DNA was that of Ronald Cotton.  He was accused, identified via photo lineup and convicted of raping a North Carolina woman in 1984.  He was 22 years old.  Eleven years later, DNA proved he wasn’t the rapist.  There are a group of psychologists who are using this case as an example of how wrong eyewitness accounts can be.  Their recommendations include limited feedback from police during a lineup as well other methods that lend towards a more scientific approach and less of an emotional scenario.  That seems near impossible.  Anyone who’s ever been a victim of a crime can tell you that removing the emotions is simply not possible.  Still, everyone agrees a better solution, via technological advances, must be found that will prevent innocent people from serving any jail time.

In the meantime, Dallas County, TX is expected to implement the study immediately.

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