Deck 9: Identification Procedures

Question 1

What type of judgment occurs when a witness selects the person in a lineup who looks most like the culprit, believing the offender has to be in the lineup?

A)conclusive
B)suggestible
C)relative
D)subjective

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Researchers have demonstrated that being of another race when identifying strangers:

A)substantially increases the risk of mistaken identification.
B)substantially decreases the risk of mistaken identification.
C)increases the risk of mistaken identification, but not significantly.
D)decreases the risk of mistaken identification, but not significantly.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In  Perry v. New Hampshire (2012), SCOTUS ruled that:

A)the due process clause does not require a hearing into the reliability of eyewitness identification procedures that were not arranged by the police.
B)accidental show-ups constitute "fruit of the poisonous tree" and cannot be used at trial.
C)accidental show-ups are preferable to organized lineups.
D)accidental show-ups are a highly successful tool of law enforcement.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is one of the reasons that psychologists are skeptical of eyewitness retrospective self-reports?

A)the social desirability of the responses
B)the problem of inconsistency
C)the lack of descriptive terminology
D)the inability of witnesses to understand the importance of their reports

Question 5

Researchers recommend that officials:

A)present members of a lineup to the witness at the same time, standing together.
B)have the officer who arrested the suspect conduct the lineup.
C)present members of a lineup to the witness one at a time.
D)inform the witness that the suspect is one of the individuals they will be asked to identify in the lineup.

Question 6

Best guesses indicate that eyewitness misidentifications account for what percentage of wrongful convictions of persons eventually exonerated by DNA?

A)10 percent
B)25 percent
C)75 percent
D)90 percent

Question 7

What type of research consists of analysis of real procedures used in actual criminal cases?

A)quantitative research
B)experimental research
C)archival research
D)ex post facto research

Question 8

In State v. Long (1986), the Court ruled that trial courts have to give jurors what type of instruction, explaining the weaknesses of eyewitness identification evidence?

A)cautionary
B)identification
C)objective
D)evidentiary

Question 9

Psychologists separate memory into three phases. Which of the following is not one of the three phases?

A)acquisition
B)retention
C)retrieval
D)utterance

Question 10

What type of lineup reduces the power of suggestion and reduces the possibility that the witness will pick the person who most resembles the perpetrator?

A)sequential
B)simultaneous
C)blind
D)photo

Question 11

What is the term for an identification procedure in which a witness happens to see the defendant in custody, say outside the courtroom or in the police station?

A)a photo array
B)an accidental show-up
C)a lineup
D)a confrontation

Question 12

Identification of a single suspect by a witness is called:

A)a lineup.
B)a photo array.
C)a show-up.
D)an in-court identification.

Question 13

Which of the following is not of one Wisconsin's recommendations for improving police lineups?

A)Present the suspect and the fillers simultaneously.
B)Instruct eyewitnesses that the real criminal may or may not be present in the lineup.
C)Use a "double blind" procedure.
D)Use fillers that will minimize any suggestiveness that might indicate the suspect.

Question 14

The participants in most police lineups consist mainly of:

A)inmates from the local jail.
B)volunteers from the community.
C)civilians who work for the police department.
D)correctional officers.

Question 15

Suggestive lineups:

A)lead to automatic exclusion of the resulting identification.
B)are always questioned by the trial judge.
C)give rise always to a substantial likelihood of misidentification.
D)do not lead to automatic exclusion of the resulting identification.

Question 16

What occurs when eyewitnesses are shown persons or objects and asked whether they are involved in the crime?

A)recall
B)recognition
C)suggestion
D)retention

Question 17

Research shows that jurors:

A)tend to overestimate the accuracy of a witness's lineup identification.
B)tend to question the accuracy of eyewitness identification.
C)understand the problems involved in administering identification procedures.
D)are aware of the research about eyewitness identification.

Question 18

What term refers to the perception of an event when information is first entered into a person's memory?

A)recall
B)acquisition
C)suggestion
D)retention

Question 19

Over time, memory:

A)fades, and witnesses recognize this problem.
B)fades, but witnesses develop greater confidence about their recall ability.
C)improves, but witnesses do not have confidence in this fact.
D)improves, and witnesses recognize this fact.

Question 20

Which of the following is not one of the three variables included by psychologists in the Manson reliability test of eyewitness identification?

A)the eyewitness's opportunity to view the criminal
B)the amount of attention the witness paid to the criminal
C)the witness's confidence in the accuracy of the identification
D)expert testimony concerning the reliability of eyewitness identification

Question 21

Eyewitness identifications are almost always rejected by the courts.

Question 22

The case of Manson v. Braithwaite (1977)addressed issues related to what type of eyewitness identification?

A)lineups
B)photo lineups
C)accidental show-ups
D)show-ups

Question 23

In Manson v. Braithwaite (1977), SCOTUS endorsed which method for determining the admissibility of witness identification?

A)the per se approach
B)the blind administration test
C)the totality of the circumstances approach
D)the better use approach

Question 24

Eyewitness identification of strangers is low in reliability, even in the most ideal settings.

Question 25

In U.S. v. Wade (1967), law enforcement was found to have violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment rights in what respect?

A)DNA samples were taken without consent from the defendant's attorney.
B)The defendant was placed in a lineup after being indicted without counsel present.
C)There was insufficient clarity in a photograph used to identify the defendant in a photo array.
D)Eyewitnesses were encouraged by police officers to select the defendant from a lineup.

Question 26

In Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts (2009), SCOTUS decided that the Sixth Amendment guarantees defendants what right?

A)the right to call an expert witness, but only to refute the prosecution's expert witness
B)the right to cross-examine forensic lab technicians
C)the right to call expert witnesses
D)the right to have use of forensic lab technicians

Question 27

Many legal commentators suggest that one way to reform identification procedures would be to:

A)loosen the standards for admitting expert testimony on human perception and memory and the problems related to eyewitness identification.
B)require all eyewitnesses to undergo psychological testing concerning their recall and retention abilities.
C)require police to corroborate all eyewitness identifications for all types of cases.
D)totally ban the use of photo identification procedures.

Question 28

Scientists agree that DNA technology can:

A)distinguish between any two individuals, other than identical twins.
B)distinguish between general types of individuals.
C)distinguish with 35 to 40 percent accuracy between two individuals.
D)identify the blood types of individuals accurately.

Question 29

Research indicates that 50 percent of defendants exonerated by DNA have cases involving mistaken eyewitness identification.

Question 30

Research has consistently found that lineup fillers who don't fit the witness's previous description of the culprit:

A)increase the chances significantly that the witness will identify the wrong person.
B)decrease the chances that the witness will identify the wrong person.
C)have no impact on the chances that the witness will identify the wrong person.
D)increase the chances slightly that the witness will identify the wrong person.

Question 31

What SCOTUS case introduced due process rights into determining the admissibility of evidence derived from a pretrial show-up before indictment?

A)State v. Clopten
B)Stovall v. Denno
C)Perry v. New Hampshire
D)Manson v. Braithwaite

Question 32

To exclude identification evidence on due process grounds, defendants have to prove (by a preponderance of the evidence)that the totality of the circumstances shows the identification procedure to have been unnecessarily suggestive and that this unnecessarily suggestive procedure created:

A)some slight likelihood of misidentification.
B)a very substantial likelihood of misidentification.
C)an almost guaranteed likelihood of misidentification.
D)harm to the defendant.

Question 33

In a show-up, witnesses try to pick the suspect out of a group of individuals.

Question 34

Failure to recall a detail about a crime or to recognize the perpetrator is considered:

A)an error of commission.
B)faulty acquisition.
C)an error of omission.
D)retention failure.

Question 35

I n District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne (2009), SCOTUS involved prisoner Osborne's post-conviction request to compel officials to release biological evidence so it could be submitted to DNA testing. What was the finding of the Court?

A)Osborne has a right, under the U.S. Constitution, of access to forensic evidence.
B)Osborne's rights under Alaska law were violated.
C)there is no right under the U.S. Constitution of access to forensic evidence.
D)DNA testing is too expensive to make it a constitutional right.

Question 36

Which of the following is not one of the five factors in the "totality of circumstances" that should weigh heavily in determining whether the lineup or show-up procedure created a likelihood of misidentification?

A)witness level of certainty when identifying the suspects during the identification procedure
B)witness degree of attention at the time of the crime
C)witness age at the time of the crime
D)witness opportunity to view suspects at the time of the crime

Question 37

Psychological research shows that when the person administering an identification procedure somehow confirms the witness's pick, the comments:

A)have no impact on the witness's confidence in the identification.
B)cause the witness to question whether the administrator is trying to influence the identification.
C)cause the witness to have greater confidence in the accuracy of the identification.
D)cause the witness to doubt the identification.

Question 38

Forensic science produces some of the most powerful evidence imaginable.

Question 39

In what case did SCOTUS decide that defendants have no constitutional right of access to forensic evidence?

A)Manson v. Braithwaite
B)Perry v. New Hampshire
C)District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne
D)Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts

Question 40

In order to exclude identification evidence on due process grounds, defendants must prove that the identification procedure was unnecessarily suggestive and created a substantial likelihood of misidentification:

A)beyond a reasonable doubt.
B)by a preponderance of the evidence.
C)by clear and convincing proof.
D)beyond a reasonable suspicion.

Question 41

Researchers who study memory divide it into three stages: _______________, retention, and recall.

Question 42

Show-ups are less reliable than lineups.

Question 43

Eyewitness retrospective self-reports are the basis of identification testimony.

Question 44

One of the reforms suggested to improve eyewitness identification is to present the suspect and the fillers in a lineup simultaneously.

Question 45

SCOTUS has ruled that there is a constitutional right of access to forensic evidence.

Question 46

Suggestion is particularly powerful during the retention phase of memory.

Question 47

An identification procedure in which a witness is shown multiple photographs is called a(n)_______________ _______________.

Question 48

The composition of the lineup and the _______________ given prior to the lineup influence identifications.

Question 49

In experimental research to study eyewitness identification, researchers stage crimes and question the unsuspecting witnesses about what they saw.

Question 50

A person running an identification procedure who does not know the suspect is called a(n)_______________ _______________.

Question 51

The _______________ phase is when the brain stores information between the time of the crime and the lineup, show-up, or photo identification.

Question 52

Forensic science is the application of _______________ methods and techniques to investigating crimes.

Question 53

A witness's identification is susceptible to _______________, a powerful contributor to mistaken identity during memory retrieval.

Question 54

When memories are acquired, the brain acts as a video recorder storing a stream of images.

Question 55

Eyewitness _______________ self-reports are the basis of identification testimony.

Question 56

A procedure used for the identification of suspects whereby the suspect alone is presented to a witness for possible identification is known as a(n)_______________.

Question 57

If a witness is attempting to identify a person of another race, the chances of misidentification are increased.

Question 58

Forensic science has almost no shortcomings.

Question 59

The reliability of lineups depends in part on making sure that there are enough people in them and that the people share similar characteristics.

Question 60

_______________ research about eyewitness identifications involves analyzing previously used identification procedures in actual criminal cases.

Question 61

Examine the reforms that legal experts suggest courts can implement to improve eyewitness identification reliability.

Question 62

Discuss the importance of pre-lineup instructions for identification procedures using lineups.

Question 63

Identify the two steps in the totality of circumstances due process test of admissibility of eyewitness identification created by SCOTUS. Identify and describe the five circumstances in the totality of circumstances due process test that you identified.

Question 64

Discuss what psychologists know about the confidence eyewitnesses have in their identifications and how that confidence will impact a case.

Question 65

Identify and explain the shortcomings of forensic evidence. Provide examples of how these shortcomings might apply to criminal cases.