PS380:4P

A COSTLY MISTAKE

The problems involved in identifying suspects include prior knowledge of the suspect in the standard lineup since administrators offer unintentional cues of who to pick to the eyewitnesses. The eyewitnesses could also assume that the suspect is within the lineup and choose a wrong person. The eyewitnesses could not be sure about who the real perpetrator is and could end up choosing one of the people represented with doubts.

The reasons as to why the witness may have falsely identified Mr. Cotton include the assumption that Mr. Cotton was the perpetrator of the crime. The witness also thought that Mr. Cotton really resembled the suspect. The other suspects also failed to match the description provided about the perpetrator. There was an unintentional suggestion of the suspects and it led to the witness identifying Mr. Cotton as the perpetrator. The witness seemed to look at the administrator for cues during the identification process. The witness’ level of confidence had not been determined prior to identifying Mr. Cotton falsely. The witness might have been provided with information that influenced the suspect he would choose during the identification process (Clark, 2012).

In order to improve the process, it would be advisable to use the blind administrator. This is because the administrator should not have had influence on the selection of the suspect. Both the eyewitness and the administrator should not have known who the suspect was even before the selection process. The witness should have been given instructions by the administrator in order to ensure that he doesn’t feel compelled to choose a particular person (Wells, 2006). The witness would not have relied on the administrator to make a selection of the suspects.

REFERENCES

Clark, S. E. (2012). Costs and benefits of eyewitness identification reform: Psychological science and public policy. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(3), 238-259.

Wells, G. L. (2006). Eyewitness identification: Systemic reforms. Wis. L. Rev., 615.