by Manda Sanko

Created on: December 26, 2008

Hundreds of individuals are chosen from lineups every day in North America and Europe (Smith, Lindsay, Pryke, & Dysart, 2001). According to The Innocence Project (2008) "Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in more than 75% of convictions overturned through DNA testing." Still, the criminal justice system profoundly relies on eyewitness identification and testimony for investigating and prosecuting crimes (Wells & Olson, 2003).

I will now provide a brief overview of factors, including both estimator and system variables, which influence the accuracy of eyewitness accounts. First, I will look at estimator variables and their effect on eyewitness accounts. Second, I will examine system variables, how they affect eyewitness accounts, and how the criminal justice system can control them. And finally, based on my research I will offer suggestions to increase the accuracy of eyewitness accounts.

Estimator Variables

Estimator variables are variables that influence eyewitness accounts and identification that are out of the hands of the criminal justice system. Estimator variables can potentially distinguish accurate from inaccurate eyewitness identifications (Wells & Olson, 2003). Estimator variables include both characteristics of the witness, such as age and race, and characteristics of the event, such as lighting conditions and time of day (Smith, Lindsay, Pryke, & Dysart, 2001).

Studies have shown that witness characteristics can have a profound effect on eyewitness recall and identification (e.g. Wright & Stroud, 2002). Some researchers have argued that age is an extremely important eyewitness factor (e.g. Kwong See, Hoffman & Wood, 2001), while others focus on factors that can be changed, such as mood (e.g. Forgas, Laham & Vargas, 2004) and drug use (e.g. Yuille, Tollestrup, Marxen, Porter, & Herve, 1998).

Many factors affect the ability of an eyewitness to recall the event at a later time. Some studies have examined event characteristics directly related to the culprit, while others have looked at the impact of event characteristics with no relation to the culprit (Wells & Olson, 2003).

Regardless of what specific factor is studied, researchers can agree that witness and event characteristics do indeed influence eyewitness accounts.

Characteristics of the Witness

Eyewitness identification performance has been consistently linked with the age of the eyewitness.

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