Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Eyewitness identifications are mainstays in police procedural dramas, but in the real world, those witness identifications are not as reliable as one would think.
Research has shown that witness memories can be easily swayed by things like suggestive questioning, the race of the suspect, even the lighting that they're shown in.
Last week, the Oregon supreme court set down new guidelines that limit the admissability of eye witness testimony in court. It's seen as a landmark decision that could provide a blueprint for the rest of the country.
Here to discuss the case is Karen Newirth, who works on this issue with the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongly convicted.