Bill Text: HI SCR134 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Task Force; Eyewitness Identification; Confession Evidence

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-24 - The committee on PSM deferred the measure. [SCR134 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-SCR134-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	134
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the convening of a task force to establish statewide procedural anD administrative requirements for eyewitness identification and interrogation of suspects in criminal investigations.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the integrity of the State’s criminal justice process is enhanced and preserved by adherence to best practices in gathering evidence; and

 

     WHEREAS, the goal of a police investigation is to apprehend the person or persons responsible for the commission of a crime to protect the public safety and welfare; and

 

     WHEREAS, more accurate eyewitness identification and confession evidence increases the ability of police and prosecutors to convict the guilty and protect the innocent; and

 

WHEREAS, mistaken eyewitness identification has been demonstrated to have contributed to a wrongful conviction in approximately 75 percent, and false confessions have contributed to 25 percent, of the 312 exonerations that have been recorded since 1989; and

 

     WHEREAS, over the past 30 years a large body of peer-reviewed, scientific research and practices have emerged showing that simple systemic changes in administering eyewitness identification procedures can greatly improve the accuracy of eyewitness identification; and

 

     WHEREAS, model policies and procedures to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identifications and confession evidence, such as those recommended by the American Bar Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, are readily available for review; and

     WHEREAS, the people of Hawaii would benefit from the improvement in the accuracy of eyewitness identifications and confession evidence; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the House of Representatives concurring, that a task force be convened to establish statewide procedural and administrative requirements for eyewitness identification and interrogation of suspects in criminal investigations; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court convene and chair the task force, consisting of the following members or their designees:

 

     (1)  The Attorney General;

 

     (2)  The Public Defender;

 

     (3)  One chief of police selected by the county chiefs of police for the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, and the City and County of Honolulu;

 

     (4)  One prosecutor selected by the county prosecutors for the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, and the City and County of Honolulu; 

 

     (5)  The Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs;

 

     (6)  The Director of the Hawaii Innocence Project;

 

     (7)  Head of the Honolulu Police Department's Training Division; and

 

     (8)  An individual with expertise in relevant social sciences, as demonstrated by teaching, publication, and other scholarly application; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that eyewitness identification procedures recommended by the task force include requirements for:

(1)    "Live lineups", in which a group of persons, including the suspect and other persons not suspected of the offense, is presented to an eyewitness for the purpose of determining whether the eyewitness identifies the suspect from the group as the perpetrator;

 

(2)    "Photo lineups", in which an array of photographs, including a photograph of the suspect and photographs of other persons not suspected of the offense, is presented to an eyewitness either in hard copy form or via computer or other electronic means for the purpose of determining whether the eyewitness identifies the suspect from the array of photographs as the perpetrator; and

 

     (3)  "Showups", in which an eyewitness is presented in-person with a single suspect for the purpose of determining whether the eyewitness identifies the individual as the perpetrator; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the procedural and administrative requirements recommended by the task force for eyewitness identification include, at minimum:

 

     (1)  Use of blind administration of lineups;

 

     (2)  Specific instructions to the eyewitness, including the directive that the perpetrator may or may not be present in the eyewitness identification procedure;

 

     (3)  Ensuring that non-suspect members or photos match the description of the perpetrator provided by the eyewitness;

 

     (4)  Taking a confidence statement from the person viewing a lineup in the person's own words at the time the identification is made; and

     (5)  Identifying the means by which an eyewitness identification procedure is recorded or documented, including the following information:

 

          (A)  All identification and non-identification results obtained during an eyewitness identification procedure, signed by the eyewitness;

 

          (B)  The names of all persons present at an eyewitness identification procedure, including the name of the person administering the procedure; and

 

          (C)  The date and time of an eyewitness identification procedure; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the procedural and administrative requirements recommended by the task force for interrogation include:

 

     (1)  Administering Miranda warnings;

 

     (2)  Identifying the cases in which electronic recording is appropriate;

 

     (3)  Ensuring that statements reasonably likely to elicit incriminating responses made by individuals in custody are electronically recorded; and

 

     (4)  Properly documenting statements and confessions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force also consider whether the existing legal framework for evaluating eyewitness and confession evidence is consistent with generally accepted social science research and practice; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force offer guidance on how Hawaii courts can most effectively combat unnecessarily suggestive eyewitness identification procedures or unrecorded custodial interrogations, thus minimizing the risk of a wrongful conviction, including the consideration of suppression or use of appropriate jury instructions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force work with law enforcement officials in developing training programs for law enforcement officers and recruits relative to eyewitness identification procedures; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2015; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court; Attorney General; Public Defender; county chiefs of police for the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, and the City and County of Honolulu; head of the Honolulu Police Department's Training Division; county prosecutors for the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, and the City and County of Honolulu; Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Director of the Hawaii Innocence Project; and Director of the University of Hawaii at Manoa's College of Social Sciences Public Policy Center.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:  

Task Force; Eyewitness Identification; Confession Evidence