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Identity: A Crisis Of Confidence? Or Is It Resemblance? An Exploration Of The Different Approaches By Which Eyewitness Evidence Can Be Obtained From Lineups, Dominic T. Jordan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Research has shown that eyewitness identification decisions are fallible and often mistaken. Although considerable attention has been afforded to identification decision accuracy and its improvement, mistaken identification decisions continue to contribute to costly errors at the evidentiary stage of the criminal justice system process (i.e., wrongful convictions). Several prominent researchers have suggested, by way of explanation, that the existing framework for obtaining eyewitness evidence from lineups, namely, identification, is inadequate. Indeed, the assumption that witnesses when presented with a lineup, can make reliable identification decisions (i.e., can reliably determine that a lineup member is the same unfamiliar person seen previously …