According to the Innocence Project, in the first 325 exonerations where they used DNA evidence to free an innocent person, false identification accounted for 72% of the wrongful convictions. In recent decades, both law enforcement and innocence lawyers have become more aware of how inaccurate eyewitness identifications can be. As it turns out, people are not always good at recognizing each other.

Many factors contribute to misidentifications. Trauma, presence of weapons, time-to-observe, lighting, and visual obstructions are common causes. In addition, cross-racial identifications are notoriously difficult. Setting aside any notions of racism, people struggle to recognize others outside of their racial group. According to California Innocence Project founder Justin Brooks, it’s a natural and essential part of our survival. 

During our early years as infants and toddlers, it’s imperative that we recognize our family so we can tell them apart from others. At that stage, our minds are very good at absorbing new information. As we get a little older, our ability to learn new faces declines and so we are never as good at identifying people outside our racial group. It’s not our fault, it’s just how our brains work.

Investigators can also cause misidentifications. Without proper training and experience, law enforcement can inadvertently contaminate a witnesses’ memory by planting memories of things that did not actually happen. According to John Wixted, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego, our brains can often fill-in-the-gaps when our memory is faulty. 

And that’s why it’s critically important for investigators to be careful how they ask their questions. Subtle things like tone and non-verbal gestures are all it takes to plant a memory. Frequently, neither the investigator nor witness realized it happened. 

To hear more about eyewitness misidentifications and the science behind getting it wrong, please tune into this episode (linked above).

Special thanks to our sponsor Clio – Cloud-Based Legal Technology.

Written by: 

Laurence Colletti