Defending Your Lineup in Court

Heed the advice of Michael Barasse, a former district attorney and current judge who was one of one of the dozens of law enforcement officials and social scientists who helped craft the Justice Department guidelines. In 2005, Barasse said that police departments should implement the guidelines before a savvy defense attorney uses them to dismantle one of their cases or before someone who was wrongfully convicted uses the guidelines to sue their department. (last web link below)

Next month we’ll delve into Barasse’s forewarned specter of civil litigation and look at how police lineups may be a new frontier in failure to train litigation.

Web Links:

• The Hot Debate on Police Lineups
• Eyewitness Evidence – A Guide for Law Enforcement (requires Acrobat reader)
• Eyewitness Evidence – A Trainer’s Manual for Law Enforcement (requires Acrobat reader)
• New IACP Policies
• Wisconsin Model Policy and Procedure for Eyewitness Identification (requires Acrobat reader)
• NJ Attorney General Guidelines for Preparing and Conducting Photo and Live Lineup Identification Procedures (requires Acrobat reader)
• Study: 88% of Texas police and sheriffs have no written policy on eyewitness ID procedures; even fewer follow best practices
• Texas moving forward with police lineup rules
• Eyewitness Identification: What Chiefs Need to Know Now
• Jury Instructions for Winning Criminal Cases
• Trying Identification Cases: An outline for raising eyewitness ID issues
• Two stories of eyewitness error
• Litigating Eyewitness Identification Cases in the 21st Century Seminar
• The Reactions of Mock Jurors to the Department of Justice Guidelines for the Collection and Preservation of Eyewitness Evidence (requires Acrobat reader)
• Jury Instruction – Omissions in Police Investigations (requires Acrobat reader)
• Most Local Police Unaware of Witness Guidelines

About The Author:

Described by Calibre Press as "the indisputable master of enter-train-ment," Val Van Brocklin is an internationally sought speaker, trainer and noted author. She combines a dynamic presentation style with over 10 years experience as a prosecutor where her trial work received national media attention on ABC's Primetime Live, the Discovery Channel's Justice Files, in USA Today, The National Enquirer and REDBOOK. In addition to her personal appearances, she appears on television, radio, and webcasts, in newspapers, journal articles and books. Visit her website: www.valvanbrocklin.com