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Wrongful Convictions: Unit III Article Critique
In their article titled, Safeguards Against Wrongful Conviction in Eyewitness Identification Cases: Insights from Empirical Research, Smith and Dufraimont evaluate the efficacy of two of the safeguards that have in the past been put in place to ensure that mistakenly identified persons are not convicted. One of the key issues the authors raise has got to do with the fact that in the past, there have been numerous instances of wrongful convictions based on eye witness mistakes. In the words of the authors, several researchers have catalogued known wrongful convictions and documented their commonalities. Yet another important issue highlighted in the article is the fact that wrongful convictions do not come about as a consequence of eyewitness mistakes only. Instead, wrongful convictions could be caused by defense and Crown lawyers as well as police officers. This is more so the case when the decisions the said lawyers make and the approaches police officers make use of are defective in one way or another. Next, the authors also point to the need for lineup reform procedures. As they observe, the fact that the lineup reform procedures have costs that accompany their inherent benefits must not discourage their adoption. In that regard, therefore, law enforcement...…suspect is guilty given identification.
The article in this case is not only informative, but also revealing of the fallibility of eyewitness evidence. This is especially worrying given that as Combs (2010), points out, there are some judicial bodies that base their factual determinations virtually exclusively on eyewitness testimony (14). A good example in this case, according to the author, would be international tribunals. The article by Smith and Dufraimont provides an insight on the approaches that ought to be adopted in an attempt to address eyewitness testimony limitations. I am convinced that even as the approaches highlighted therein are taken into consideration, the need for additional research in…
References
Combs, N.A. (2010). Fact-Finding without Facts: The Uncertain Evidentiary Foundations of International Criminal Convictions. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, A.M., & Dufraimont, L. (2014). Safeguards against Wrongful Conviction in Eyewitness Identification Cases: Insights from Empirical Research. Canadian Criminal Law Review, 18(2), 199–217.
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(iv) misconduct by the police or unintentional mistake, together with the application of suggestive identification procedures, pressuring of a confession or inculpatory declaration by a suspect, not carrying out other channels of investigation following initial detection of a powerful suspect, and being unsuccessful to give the prosecutor enough proof which is able to point to an individual other than the defendant as the person behind the act. (v) Mistake