Eyewitness Identification Procedures in Texas
New Study Documents Lack of Lineup Polices in Texas Law Enforcement Agencies
The Justice Project released today a new report documenting that only 12% of Texas law enforcement agencies have any written policies or guidelines for the conduct of photo or live lineup procedures. In addition, the few existing written procedures are often vague and incomplete. Overall, most jurisdictions in Texas fail to implement widely endorsed best practices that have been proven to increase the reliability of eyewitness evidence.
Eighty-two percent of Texas’s 38 wrongful convictions exposed by DNA testing were based largely or exclusively on incorrect eyewitness identifications. Texas currently has no statutory requirements for the conduct of eyewitness identification procedures.
