What do Texas Attorneys Know about Eyewitness Identifications and How Are Plea-Bargaining Decisions Impacted?

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Eyewitness misidentifications have contributed to 28% of all known wrongful convictions. While Texas has passed reforms to improve identification procedures and prevent future injustices, legislators failed to include an enforcement mechanism (i.e., the exclusionary rule). As a result, eyewitness identifications obtained via unreliable police procedures are still being admitted in court. Ultimately, prosecutors have discretion to try cases involving eyewitness identifications. Yet the extent of their eyewitness knowledge has not been evaluated in Texas nor how such evidence influences plea decisions. Given 95% of convictions are the result of plea bargains, the weight of such evidence warrants further attention. This study will recruit currently practicing prosecutors and defense attorneys in the state of Texas to complete an eyewitness knowledge survey followed by a hypothetical case evaluation. The hypothetical case will vary in the usage of reliable identification procedures. This study will achieve two purposes. The first is to understand the extent to which attorneys in Texas are knowledgeable of evidence-based identification procedures. The second is to determine whether prosecutors refuse to prosecute cases when police fail to follow best practices and whether defense attorneys are less likely to accept plea offers in cases when police fail to follow best practices.

Authors

• Jeffery Nelson, Texas State University - San Marcos

• Angela M. Jones, Texas State University