A bill creating a uniform procedure for law enforcement agencies when it comes to conducting eyewitness interviews is on its way to the House floor.
In hopes of reducing wrongful prosecutions, Rep. Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart) says her bill seeks to improve Florida’s system of eyewitness identification.
“According to the Innocence Project of Florida, eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions when DNA evidence is shown,” she said. “75 percent of convictions here there’s DNA evidence later found, those convictions were reversed.”
So, her bill requires all law enforcement agencies who conduct lineups follow the same procedures. It includes having an independent administrator conduct the lineup or create an alternative approach approved by the state’s Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission. The Florida Senate has already passed the bill.
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