Chapter 110
2011 -- H 5090
Enacted 06/22/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- IDENTIFICATION AND APPREHENSION OF CRIMINALS
Introduced By: Representatives Ajello, Mattiello, Newberry, JP O`Neill, and Walsh
Date
Introduced: January 20, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 12-1-16 of the General Laws in Chapter
12-1 entitled
"Identification and
Apprehension of Criminals" is hereby amended to read as follows:
12-1-16.
Improvement of lineup procedures task force. --
(a) In order to: (1) Prevent
the injustice of a wrongful conviction caused by mistaken
eyewitness identification; (2) Improve
lineup procedures during criminal investigations; and (3)
Further improve the already high quality
of criminal justice in our state, the general assembly
creates a taskforce to identify and
recommend policies and procedures to improve the accuracy of
eyewitness identifications.
(b) The task force
shall be comprised of the following or their designees:
(1) Attorney general;
(2) Public defender;
(3) Superintendent of
the
(4) President of the
(5) Head of the
municipal police training academy;
(6) President of the
(7) President of the
(8) A representative
from a
sciences as demonstrated by teaching, publication and other
scholarly applications; and
(9) Executive director
of the
(c) The task force, in
consultation with eyewitness identification practitioners and
experts, shall develop guidelines for policies, procedures
and training with respect to the
collection and handling of eyewitness evidence in criminal
investigations by law enforcement
agencies in
with information regarding policies and procedures proven
to increase the accuracy of the crime
investigation process, thus also reducing the possibility of
wrongful convictions.
(d) Guidelines for
policies, procedures and training that may be considered and
recommended by the task force include, but are not limited to:
(1) Use of blind
administration of lineups;
(2) Specific
instructions to be given to the eyewitness before and during the lineup to
increase the accuracy of any identification, including that
the purpose of the identification
procedure is to exculpate the innocent as well as to identify
the actual perpetrator;
(3) Number and
selection of fillers to be in lineups;
(4) Use of sequential
lineups versus nonsequential lineups;
(5) Inclusion of only
one suspect in any lineup;
(6) Value of refraining
from providing any confirmatory information to the eyewitness;
(7) Standards and
protocols to be used in the administration and conduct of an
identification procedure;
(8) Training, if any,
should be made available to law enforcement personnel in the use of
these procedures; and
(9) Taking a confidence
statement from the person viewing the lineup.
(e) The task force
shall submit a report on the guidelines developed and
recommendations concerning their use. Minority reports may also be
issued. These reports shall
be presented to the governor, the chief justice of the
the house of representatives, the president of the
senate, and the chairpersons of the judiciary
committees of both the house of representatives and the senate
no later than January 1, 2011. The
task force shall terminate on the date that it submits its
report. The task force shall meet
periodically thereafter in order to assess the impact of the
recommendations made in the report; to
conduct further research in the area of eyewitness identification;
to specifically assess the use of
sequential and simultaneous lineups by
whether, in light of that experience, the use of sequential lineups
should be recommended as a
“best practice.” Said
meetings shall be called by agreement of the attorney general and public
defender. A supplemental report from the task force shall be
delivered in the same manner as its
initial report and not later than April 30, 2012.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00280
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