SPECIAL BULLETIN FROM THE AMERICAN JUDICATURE SOCIETY
60 Minutes to Report on Eyewitness Identification Reform
The CBS News show, 60 Minutes will air a two-segment report on Eyewitness Identification Reform on Sunday, March 8, 2009, at 7pm EST.
Dr. Gary L. Wells, Director of Social Sciences for the AJS Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy, and Christine Mumma, member of the AJS Board of Directors, were both interviewed for the program. The 60 Minutes segment will focus on problems with misidentification of suspects and potential reforms, which are currently being studied by AJS (American Judicature Society) and other organizations in the national Eyewitness Identification Field Studies.
Mistaken eyewitness identification is widely considered the leading cause of wrongful convictions in the United States. Of the 232 cases over-turned by DNA evidence to date, over 75% have involved faulty eyewitness identification. To learn more about the national Eyewitness Identification Field Studies, please visit the AJS Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy’s website at www.ajs.org/wc/index.asp