Trending
Juries in New York state will be allowed to consider a photo array shown to a witness by police.
Previously, state law prohibited photo arrays from being introduced as evidence at trial. New York state also has adopted a standard protocol for law enforcement to follow when showing photos to witnesses for purposes of identifying the perpetrator of a crime. The identification procedure reform law includes safeguards to protect innocent people from arrest and conviction.
"This administration has fought tirelessly to ensure our criminal justice system works for all New Yorkers, and today we have taken another step forward," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "Photo identification evidence can be a powerful tool to convict a perpetrator and protect the innocent, and these new procedures lay out a fair and effective path to help ensure criminals are caught and justice is served."
Research indicates that photo identification is most reliable when conducted closest to the time of a crime or initial sighting and when it is the first procedure used to identify a suspect. Photo arrays can be effective at confirming whether a person was, in fact, involved in a crime.
ID procedure reform was included in the enacted state budget, which also required the state Division of Criminal Justice Services to establish the standard protocol for law enforcement. The protocol adopted by the State includes a number of safeguards, including requiring an investigator who does not know the identity of the suspect or where the suspect's photo is located within a photo array to show the photos to a witness.
The Division of Criminal Justice Services used an identification procedure model policy previously approved by the state's Municipal Police Training Council as the basis for the protocol and worked with criminal justice stakeholders to ensure it aligns with the latest research, protects against misidentifications and meets the needs of police as they conduct investigations. The council, composed of representatives from law enforcement agencies and academia, endorsed the protocol as its new model policy, which agencies can use to create their own written policies.
Cuomo included identification procedures reform - and a mandatory requirement of police to video record interviews with individuals in custody for serious offenses, including homicide, sexual assault and kidnapping - in his Executive Budget. Both reforms were supported by the District Attorneys Association of New York State, the Innocence Project, and the New York State Bar Association. The legislation requiring video recording takes effect on April 1, 2018.