All eyes on witnesses.

• Author: Williams, Rich
• Position: TRENDS - Laws on eyewitness identification

Eyewitnesses often provide information critical to criminal investigations and court cases. But when they incorrectly identify an innocent person as the culprit, it can result in the wrong person going to jail--and a guilty one remaining free to commit more crimes.

Mistaken identifications have been a factor in more than 70 percent of the 325 wrongful convictions overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence since 1989, according to the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating wrongly convicted people.

Although no combination of procedures can prevent all mistakes in eyewitness identification, researchers, law enforcement personnel and state lawmakers continue to find ways to improve the accuracy of the process.

A 2014 study committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report detailing the best available scientific understanding of eyewitness identification, including everything from the nature of human memory to the soundness of the procedures used in witness identifications. To improve the reliability of eyewitness identifications and their use as evidence, the committee suggested:

* Conducting "blind" lineups in which even the...