However, as the article proceeds to discuss, many of the smaller police departments choose not to follow these guidelines, as is the case for some prosecutors and judges, as they think this is either undermining their authority and/or these "scientific" studies are not to be trusted. What this means is not only are innocent people still going to given the finger by eyewitnesses but trials will be now be declared as mistrials at taxpayers expense. There are times I feel that those of us who understand the validity of scientific research, as per Gary Wells, need to come forward. I applaud Gary but such does not mean that each and every one of us doesn't have an obligation to write a letter to newspapers, editorials, etc. to clarify the importance and validity of the determination of the judges on the New Jersey Supreme Court. In fact, they need and have every right to expect our support as they took a brave and rather unorthodox stance.
Joan Joan Warmbold Boggs [email protected] Beth Benoit wrote: > > > > > > An interesting article appeared in /The New York Times/ on Monday, > which is encouraging. "New Jersey's Supreme Court has decided to > overhaul the state's rules for how judges and jurors treat evidence > from police lineups." It's heartening to see that legal systems are > starting to recognize that eyewitness identification can be > problematic. Gary Wells, of Iowa State, is interviewed (I have a > couple of videos where he talks about this problem.), as is Stanley Z. > Fisher, of Boston University. The new guidelines mandate two things: > > * lineups must be administered by someone is not a primary > investigator on the case and isn't familiar with the suspect > * photos should be shown in sequence, rather than as a group > > Here's the article: > http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/us/29witness.html > > Beth Benoit > Granite State College > Plymouth State University > New Hampshire > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752d0d&n=T&l=tips&o=12370 > > <http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752d0d&n=T&l=tips&o=12370> > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-12370-49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > <mailto:leave-12370-49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=12378 or send a blank email to leave-12378-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
