Topic
Eyewitness Identification
49 published works
EvidenceProf Blog
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Mandates Jury Instruction on Problems With Cross-Racial IDs
By Colin Miller
On several prior occasions (see, e.g., here and here), I have written on the topic of the problems with cross-racial eyewitness identifications and whether courts should be allowed to issue jury…
Trial Ad (and other) Notes
Conviction Reversed Because Expert Testimony re Eyewitness ID Excluded
By marywhisnertrialadnotes-blogspot-com
Interesting case from New York: Joel Stashenko, Conviction Reversed as Expert Barred from Testifying, N.Y.L.J., April 3, 2015. The case is People v. McCullough, 11-01614 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., App. Div.…
Failed Evidence
One Court, One Day, One Issue, Two Cases: Opposite Conclusions on Experts Testimony on Eyewitnesses and Confessions
On May 28, 2014, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court published two opinions about whether juries could hear from experts. In Commonwealth v. Walker, the Court said an expert could tell the jury…
EvidenceProf Blog
Next Questions in the Eyewitness Identification Reform Debate
By Colin Miller
The below article by D. Michael Risinger (Seton Hall) recently appeared on the SSRN wire. It addresses the provocative question of what goes into “cost” side of the balance when…
Sentencing Law and Policy
ABA Death Penalty Review Project releases its assessment for VIrginia
Main September 5, 2013ABA Death Penalty Review Project releases its assessment for VIrginia As reported in this Richmond Times-Dispatch article, headlined "Study urges fairness reforms in death penalty cases," a…
EvidenceProf Blog
Essay Of Interest: Valena Beety’s The Case of Trayvon Martin and the Need for Eyewitness Identification Reform
By Colin Miller
You know that something is having a deep impact when it starts coming up in conversations that are at most tangentially related to it. You're eating at a restaurant serving…
EvidenceProf Blog
True Confessions?: Court Of Appeals Of New York Finds No Problem With No Frye Hearing On False Confession Testimony
By Colin Miller
In People v. LeGrand, 8 N.Y.3d 449 (2007), the Court of Appeals of New York heldthat where the case turns on the accuracy of eyewitness identifications and there is little…
Sentencing Law and Policy
Intriguing list of “Ten Most Significant Criminal Justice Stories of 2011”
Main December 28, 2011Intriguing list of "Ten Most Significant Criminal Justice Stories of 2011"Over at The Crime Report, this new special report sets forth a list of "The Ten Most…
EvidenceProf Blog
Can I Ask You A Question?: Court Of Special Appeals Of Maryland Approves Jury Questions
By Colin Miller
A defendant is on trial for first-degree murder. During trial, the judge takes questions from the jury and asks them to jurors. Here are two examples:To an Eyewitness for the…
Legal Profession Blog
Bad Math
A prosecutor's closing argument on the mathematical possibility of an erroneous eyewitness identification resulted in the reversal of a robbery conviction by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.The court evaluated the argument:The…