Faulty Forensics:
Spotlight on
Mistaken Witness Identification

Witness memories are powerful, but not infallible

An illustration of a person with short dark hair, a light skin tone, and a neutral shirt. There is a red question mark over their face, and lines pointing to the different features, suggesting it is a diagram or quiz about facial features.

Eyewitness identifications happen when a witness to the crime identifies the alleged perpetrator based on memory.

Memory is an important tool in convicting guilty parties, but it can also result in wrongful convictions. Several factors such as pressure from prosecutors, memory fading over time, and the real perpetrator not being in a lineup when a witness is told they are may lead to false identifications.

Eyewitness ids are extremely powerful to juries

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Understandably, when juries are told that the person being tried was seen at the scene of the crime or even committing it, they may be thoroughly convinced.

Oftentimes, factors like how certain the witness actually is, how well they could see, and if there was pressure for them to identify someone are not even presented to a jury in the interest of making a conviction.

Mistaken Witness IDs Disproportionately Affect BIPOC Defendants

78% of the exonerated people whose cases involved mistaken witness IDs were Black and Hispanic. Unconscious bias from witnesses, juries, and prosecutors may lead to this disproportionate statistic.

78%

Mistaken witness IDs often lead to false confessions

44% of overturned mistaken witness identification cases involved a false confession. Because eyewitness IDs are so powerful, alleged perpetrators may feel that they don't even have a chance to win and instead just accept a plea deal.

44%

Mistaken Witness I.D. Case Study: Jennifer Thompson & Ronald Cotton

Jennifer Thompson was a college student in North Carolina in 1985 when she went to bed early one night. An intruder had been hiding in her apartment, waiting for her to come home. The intruder held a knife to Jennifer’s throat and sexually assaulted her. She knew it was important to remember the perpetrator’s face and features so she could identify him if she survived. Jennifer was eventually able to get away through a window and ran to a neighboring home for help.

Jennifer worked with police to create a sketch of the assailant to bring to the public’s attention. A tip came in stating that the sketch looked like Ronald Cotton. Jennifer was shown a photo lineup and eventually chose Ronald as the perpetrator. He was convicted of the crime at trial and sentenced to life in prison.

While in prison, Ronald came across another inmate who he thought closely resembled the sketch that Jennifer helped police create. This man, Bobbie Poole, was the real perpetrator. 10 years after Ronald’s conviction, DNA testing was conducted which linked Bobbie to the crime and several others. Ronald was exonerated and released from prison in 1995. Jennifer and Ronald eventually met and became friends, even writing a book together and conducting speaking engagements.

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To learn more about their stories, visit the National Registry of Exonerations or read the book. Wrongful Conviction Podcast also interviewed Ronald and Jennifer in 2018.

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Learn more about Mistaken Witness forensics on our Resources page. If you’d like to help us fight for justice in American forensic science, please consider donating to the Center for Integrity in Forensic Science.

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