Ch. 9 Identification Procedures (Q2)

Question 1

This case introduced due process rights into determining the admissibility of evidence derived from a pretrial show-up before indictment.
NOTE: This case involved a 1-person show-up.

Answer 1

What is Stovall v. Denno?

Question 2

What is the difference between a lineup and a show-up?

Answer 2

1) Lineup - multiple people
2) Show-up - one person

Question 3

What 2 elements must defendants prove in order to have identification evidence suppressed on Due Process grounds?

Answer 3

1) Procedure used to identify was unnecessarily and impermissibly suggestive

2) Totality of the circumstances proves that the procedure created a very substantial likelihood of misidentification

Question 4

What 5 factors form the “totality of circumstances” courts use to determine witnesses’ reliability?

Answer 4

1) Opportunity to view
2) Degree of attention
3) Accuracy of description
4) Level of certainty
5) Time between crime & confrontation

Question 5

This 1977 case held that a suggestive identification DOES NOT automatically require excluding the evidence if the identification is reliable, considering the totality of the circumstances.

Answer 5

What is Manson v. Brathwaite?

Question 6

What type of identification led to the issue in Manson v. Brathwaite?

Answer 6

A single photograph of Brathwaite

Question 7

Identification procedure in which a witness happens to see a defendant in custody outside of the courtroom or in the police station.

Answer 7

What is an accidental show-up?

Question 8

This 2012 case held that the Due Process clause didn’t require a hearing into the reliability of eyewitness ID procedures (e.g., a show-up in this instance) that weren’t arranged by the police.

Answer 8

What is Perry v. New Hampshire?

Question 9

What is the estimated percentage of wrongful convictions exonerated by DNA testing?

Answer 9

75%

Question 10

What are the 2 types of information retrieved from memory at the time of ID procedures?

Answer 10

Recall & recognition

Question 11

What is the difference between recall and recognition?

Answer 11

Recall - witnesses are given hints and asked to report what they saw

Recognition - witnesses are shown people and objects and asked if they were involved in the crime

Question 12

What is the difference between memory errors of omission and commission?

Answer 12

Omission - failure to recall a key detail

Commission - picking an innocent person from among those presented

Question 13

When is suggestive at its most powerful?

Answer 13

During the retention and retrieval phases

Question 14

Witnesses selecting the person who looks most like the culprit is a phenomenon called making a…

Answer 14

Relative judgment

Question 15

What are the 3 common situations in which courts are most likely to admit show-up evidence?

Answer 15

1) Accidental show-ups
2) Emergencies
3) Suspects on the loose

Question 16

Under what condition did psychologists conclude that eyewitness certainty can have some diagnostic value?

Answer 16

When there are NO suggestive procedures

Question 17

List 4 reforms recommended to improve lineup procedures.

Answer 17

1) Use nonsuspect fillers
2) Double-blind procedure
3) Present suspect and fillers sequentially rather than simultaneously
4) Assess eyewitness confidence immediately after identification

Question 18

This 2009 case held that there is no substantive due process right to DNA evidence testing.

Answer 18

What is DA’s Office for 3rd Judicial District v. Osborne?

Question 19

If there is no substantive due process right to DNA evidence testing (according to DA’s Office v. Osborne), then how can a criminal defendant proved guilty after a fair trial obtain such testing?

Answer 19

It’s up the the legislature to handle that

Question 20

These statutes contribute to convicting innocent people based on faulty and fraudulent forensic evidence.
HINT: It’s a 2-word Latin phrase

Answer 20

What are ipse dixit statutes?

Question 21

This 2009 case held that the 6th Amendment commands that the reliability of evidence (especially forensic evidence) be assessed via testing in the crucible of cross-examination, which is just fancy talk for saying the 6th Amendment allows forensic technicians to be cross-examined to see if their results are valid.

Answer 21

What is Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts?