Mistaken Identification is the Number One Factor
Leading to Wrongful Convictions!

Of the first 77 wrongful convictions overturned by DNA evidence,
65 resulted from witness error.

CASE STUDY: Ronald Cotton

In July of 1984 Jennifer Thompson of North Carolina was threatened
with a knife and raped in her apartment by an unknown assailant.
Determined that she would survive the attack and would see to it
that the rapist went to prison, she studied his features: his hairline,
voice, mannerisms, weight and height.

She helped the police with a composite sketch following the attack.
A few days later she selected a picture of Ronald Cotton from a photo
array of seven to eight photographs at the police station. The police
confirmed her choice with the words "We thought this might be the one
" Still later she identified Ronald Cotton from a physical lineup.

Her selection of Mr. Cotton was less than certain, as she at first wavered between him and another individual in the lineup. But after identifying
Mr. Cotton, the police assured her with the statement
"That's the one you picked out in the photo." 

Over time Ms. Thompson's confidence in her identification grew.
In fact, through the course of the trial and years later, she stated
that every time she relived the night of the rape, she saw
Ronald Cotton's image in her mind.
Mr. Cotton was given a life sentence.

Nearly eleven years later, when DNA evidence exonerated
Mr. Cotton and proved the guilt of a man by the name of
Bobby Poole, Jennifer Thompson said that she would still see
Ronald Cotton's face, and not Bobby Poole's, whenever she thought
of the rape. She had difficulty erasing Ronald Cotton's image from
her memories of that traumatic night, despite the conclusive
scientific evidence that Bobby Poole was the actual rapist. 

The jurors gave considerable weight to Jennifer Thompson's
eyewitness account. She was a very determined 22-year-old woman,
a college student with a 4.0 grade point average. Her testimony was
also viewed as credible because she had studied her attacker's
features for several minutes. She was absolutely certain
that she had accurately identified the rapist.

Jennifer Thompson's experience has been duplicated again and
again by incredible amounts of research in the field of eyewitness
identification. Ms. Thompson's assertion that she saw images of
Ronald Cotton whenever she thought about the rape is known by
psychologists as "unconscious transference." This is the mistaken
identification of a person who was seen in one setting with another
person who was seen in a different setting. Through the photo spread,
lineup, and trial, Ms. Thompson's mind incorporated
Ronald Cotton into her memories of the rape. 

The fact that Ms. Thompson was confident at the trial with her
identification of Mr. Cotton was not at all indicative of her reliability
as a witness. She had been told by the police that she had selected
a photo of their suspect, and her identification had been confirmed
by the police following the lineup. Research demonstrates that
eyewitnesses' confidence in their memories of a crime will often become
stronger over time, even when those memories are entirely erroneous. 

In addition, research in eyewitness identification involving strangers
shows that 1)The presence of a gun, knife or other weapon reduces
the reliability of eyewitness accounts. During a crime, witnesses are
more likely to focus on any weapon than on the culprit's characteristics. 

2)Memory is not stored like a videotape. Memory can be altered
over time without one being aware of the transformation. 3)Stress can
cause inaccurate memories to be stored at the time of the crime.
In crimes staged by researchers, eyewitnesses have been known
to significantly confuse the characteristics, words, and actions of the "perpetrator." 4)When selecting a picture from a police officer's
photo spread, eyewitnesses often assume that he police already
know who committed the crime and that the real culprit's photograph
is included. 5)There is a significant decrease in memory
of an assailant's features twenty-four hours after a crime.

Click here to learn more about Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton.

Gary Wells, PhD, Prof. at Iowa State Univ., is an expert
in Eyewitness Identification. Click here to learn more.

Wrongful Convictions---Our Nation’s Disgrace”
By: Grace Elting Castle, CLI ®

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Innocent Individuals (114) Who Have
Been Released from Death Row Since 1973 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Keaton 
Samuel A. Poole 
Wilbert Lee 
Freddie Pitts 
James Creamer 
Thomas Gladish 
Richard Greer 
Ronald Keine 
Clarence Smith 
Delbert Tibbs 
Earl Charles 
Jonathan Treadway 
Gary Beeman 
Jerry Banks 
Larry Hicks 
Charles Ray Giddens 
Michael Linder 
Johnny Ross 
Annibal Jaramillo 
Lawyer Johnson 
Anthony Brown 
Neil Ferber 
Clifford Henry Bowen 
Joseph Green Brown 
Perry Cobb 
Darby (Williams) Tillis 
Henry Drake 
John Henry Knapp 
Vernon McManus 
Anthony Ray Peek 
Juan Ramos 
Robert Wallace 
Richard Neal Jones 
Jerry Bigelow 
Willie Brown 
Larry Troy 
William Jent 
Earnest Miller 
Randall Dale Adams 
Jesse Keith Brown 
Robert Cox 
Timothy Hennis 
James Richardson 
Clarence Brandley 
Patrick Croy 
John C. Skelton 
Dale Johnston 
Jimmy Lee Mathers 
Gary Nelson 
Bradley P. Scott 
Charles Smith 
Jay C. Smith 
Kirk Bloodsworth 
Federico M. Macias 
Walter McMillan 
Gregory R. Wilhoit 
James Robison 
Muneer Deeb 
Andrew Golden 
Joseph Burrows 
Adolph Munson 
Robert Charles 
Rolando Cruz 
Alejandro Hernandez 
Sabrina Butler 
Verneal Jimerson 
Dennis Williams 
Roberto Miranda 
Gary Gauger 
Troy Lee Jones 
Carl Lawson 
Ricardo Aldape Guerra 
Benjamin Harris 
Robert Hayes 
Randall Padgett 
Robert Lee Miller, Jr. 
Curtis Kyles 
Shareef Cousin 
Anthony Porter 
Steven Smith 
Ronald Williamson 
Ronald Jones 
Clarence Dexter, Jr. 
Warren Douglas Manning 
Alfred Rivera 
Steve Manning 
Eric Clemmons 
Joseph Nahume Green 
Earl Washington 
William Nieves 
Frank Lee Smith 
Michael Graham 
Albert Burrell 
Peter Limone 
Gary Drinkard 
Joaquin Jose Martinez 
Jeremy Sheets 
Charles Fain 
Juan Roberto Melendez 
Ray Krone 
Thomas Kimbell, Jr. 
Larry Osborne 
Rudolph Holton 
Aaron Patterson 
Madison Hobley 
Leroy Orange 
Stanley Howard 
John Thompson 
Timothy Howard 
Gary Lamar James 
Joseph Amrine 
Nicholas Yarris
Below are some individuals who have been released
from death row because of innocence who are not
included in the official list by the
Death Penalty Information Center
(due to strict policies)
~~~~~~~
Sonia Jacobs 
Kerry Max Cook 
~~~~~~~
Due to strict policies???  Why such strict policies?
Why are we continuing the abuse? Who does this serve?
Being kept in the dark through this pernicious action
adds insult to injury as innocence still has no voice!
 
This is unconstitutional!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~