Eye witness identification is notoriously unreliable and yet it makes up the bulk of evidence in a case too often. Read on to learn how you can fight a misidentification and then reach out to Law Office of Michael L. Fell. Call us at (949) 585-9055 and we can provide a free legal consultation. There are options – let us help you find them.

Misidentifications can happen in a number of ways

There are a number of ways in which a witness may misidentify you. They may see you in a lineup where you’re with a number of other people, they may look at photo arrays, or they may identify you in court when asked to point out the perpetrator of an alleged crime. They may be given a voice line up, they may ask a witness to show up near the scene of the crime and point to the person who committed the crime.

There are many potential issues with identifying suspects

There are many different ways in which an identification can go wrong, some of which involve the witness themselves and some of which involve the way the police handle the process. For example, a person can misidentify a person due to not getting a good look at the actual perpetrator during the crime, being too far from the suspect during the actual crime, or being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Depending on the specifics of the crime that took place, the witness could also have been exposed to a significant amount of emotional trauma, which can affect their memory. Further, study after study have shown that people have a difficult time correctly identifying people of another race. If a weapon was used, they may focus on that rather than the face of the person committing the crime.

Despite their best intentions, a witness can also be influenced by pictures or sketches they see in the media. They can even be influenced by descriptions they hear of a suspect. For their part, police can influence the witness during the identification process, whether intentionally or not. When an officer knows who the suspect is, they can unconsciously indicate the suspect to the witness.

How to right eye witness identification in California

The 6th Amendment of the United States Constitution makes it clear that you have the right to a criminal defense attorney during all pretrial lineups. By having an attorney there, you’ll have someone there who’s advocating for you. They can keep an eye out for any wrongdoing or anything that inadvertently could affect the outcome of the identification process.

If we note something that’s inappropriate, then we could have the evidence suppressed and not admissible during trial. Regardless of your alleged crime, whether a juvenile case, an unlicensed sale of a firearm, or something that comes with the potential of life in prison, it pays to have an attorney on your side. At Law Office of Michael L. Fell, we can start with a free consultation. Call us at (949) 585-9055 and let us take a look at the evidence against you.