Abstract
Mistaken eyewitness identification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions. Illinois has led the nation in police procedure reform attempting to reduce wrongful convictions. Unfortunately, the Chicago Police Department missed the mark in its pilot study of the double-blind sequential procedure. The study is plagued by a confound that compares blind sequential procedures with nonblind simultaneous procedures. There are also several suggestions throughout the Mecklenburg report of police bias and undue influence in administering the study. Therefore, "the pilot study"s results cannot be trusted to prove the superiority of the simultaneous procedure over the sequential procedure. Going forward, law enforcement must continue to recognize that mistaken eyewitness identifications occur at an astounding rate and that a change in their procedures will be necessary to remedy the problem. Also, social scientists must work alongside law enforcement to conduct studies that are meaningful to the lineup reform debate. In the future, the sequential procedure must be compared against the simultaneous procedure while controlling the blind administration variable. Otherwise, there will still be potential for manipulation in future studies. Additionally, researchers must search for new ways to improve lineups and prevent mistaken identifications so that the innocent remain free.
Recommended Citation
Winzeler, Zack L.
(2008)
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa...One at a Time: Examining the Responses to the Illinois Study on Double-Blind Sequential Lineup Procedures,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 2008:
No.
4, Article 7.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol2008/iss4/7