CA: Eyewitness and Recording Bills Considered
California is considering legislation addressing electronic recording of interrogations and improving eyewitness identification. Senate Bill 756 targets the development of new regulations for eyewitness identification procedures, and Senate Bill 511 necessitates complete electronic recording of interrogations in both juvenile and adult cases.
These bills are new versions of bills proposed last year in response to recommendations by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (CCFAJ). The commission, established by the California Senate in August of 2004, based its recommendations on research from leading authorities and examples of successes in other states. Although Governor Schwarzenegger applauded the former bills for their concepts, he vetoed the legislation for what he considered “drafting errors.”
Mistaken eyewitness identification is one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions in the United States. Senate Bill 756 seeks to increase the accuracy identifications by requiring law enforcement agencies to follow CCFAJ recommendations similar to those supported by The Justice Project: complete documentation of the procedure to reduce manipulation of witness certainty; double-blind administration to prevent officials from inadvertently giving clues to the witness; cautionary instructions to remove pressure from the witness to make a choice, sequential line-ups to enhance accuracy by preventing “comparison shopping;” and effective use of fillers to reduce the likelihood of an innocent person being chosen due to lineup composition.
False confessions are another common cause of wrongful convictions. Research has shown that juvenile, mentally ill and mentally retarded suspects are particularly vulnerable to interrogation tactics that lead to false confessions. In line with The Justice Project’s model policy, Senate Bill 511 helps to avert wrongful convictions based on false confessions by mandating electronic recording of custodial interrogations of violent offenders at the place of detainment. The bill applies to both juvenile and adult violent offenders.
The new eyewitness and recording bills are expected to be reviewed by the State Assembly Public Safety Committee on June 26. If the bills are passed and signed into law, they would represent a significant step forward in increasing fairness and accuracy in California’s criminal justice system.
