Should Jurors Be Told?

"Since 1991, 218 individuals have been exonerated through DNA testing, and
in more than three-quarters of the cases, mistaken eyewitness identifications
were crucial in the wrongful convictions according to the Innocence Project"
quoted from an article about race and eyewitness ID, Race Can Hinder Eyewitness ID's.
The article was published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
on page 2A on Monday, August 11, 2008.

But what makes this more interesting is that in half of these identifications,
a person of one race misidentified a person of another race. Sociologists and
others have studied perceptions by members of one race in regard to members
of another race. They have concluded that mistakes are made most often when
a member of a racial majority is asked about a picture of a member of a racial minority.
This is not true of the United States alone but is true worldwide. One study I read some
time back said that it did not matter which race was involved or minority/majority
status, the authors concluded that whenever the picture of a different race is involved,
cross-racial errors are likely to arise.

"The American Bar Association which is currently meeting in New York is considering
whether to recommend that judges use their discretion to make juries aware of
the problems that can plague-cross-racial identification."

This immediately raised the question in my mind about the effect upon the jury. Would
it be perceived as a statement given because the judge himself/herself had doubts about
the eyewitness testimony? Would it cause more problems for a jury in reaching a verdict?

North Carolina has become the 1st state to standardize the identification procedure and it
looks quite promising. The police officer who is investigating the crime is prohibited
from conducting photo identifications with witnesses. Also line-up photographs must be shown
one after another and not in groups of 6.

New software shown at the convention would allow witnesses to view the lineups (photos) that are
identical in order shown, etc. on multiple police laptops. Because the sessions of identification would
be digitally recorded, defense attorneys can get copies of the photos and the audio.

A 22 year-old rape victim picked out the person she believed had raped her. After he spent
more than 10 years in prison, Cotton was exonerated by DNA. The rape victim and Mr. Cotton
are collaborating on a book about the incident which will be called Picking Cotton.

Do you think jurors should be told about the problems with cross-racial identification?