Memory also deteriorates while we store it. (The dress, in reality, was black and blue.) That is because our brains are processing the image differently based on the background illumination and subconsciously making a “decision” about what it’s seeing - which, simply put, can sometimes be wrong. Some people see this dress as blue and black others see it as gold and white. In this special feature, we ask Alexis Agathocleous, Innocence Project staff attorney and expert in eyewitness misidentification reform, to define eyewitness identification, describe how it can lead to wrongful convictions and discuss the policies and practices being implemented in courthouses and police departments across the country to protect against it. Their cases are featured in part two of the series, The Witness (episodes 4-6). “ The Innocence Files” – the Innocence Project-inspired docu-series on Netflix – exposes how inaccurate eyewitness identifications and improperly conducted police lineups led to the wrongful convictions of Franky Carrillo in California and Thomas Haynesworth in Virginia. Further, the National Registry of Exonerations has identified at least 450 non-DNA-based exonerations involving eyewitness misidentification. Nationally, 69% of DNA exonerations - 252 out of 367 cases - have involved eyewitness misidentification, making it the leading contributing cause of these wrongful convictions. Eyewitness misidentification is a consistent and outsized contributor to wrongful convictions.
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