The N&O catches up with the two psychologists who designed a nationally accepted protocol for police line-ups, a protocol the Durham police department itself adopted. As we learn, the Durham police and prosecutor completely ignored that protocol in the Duke lacrosse case.
One of the experts is UNCC professor Brian Cutler. Cutler notes that a victim can falsely identify a suspect for several reasons besides telling an out-right lie:
Cutler, the UNC-Charlotte psychologist, said a witness may identify a suspect for the correct reason: The suspect is the perpetrator.
But, he said, there can be other reasons: The witness could be guessing; the witness could be lying; the witness could be influenced by police behavior to pick a suspect; the witness could be influenced by repeated questioning or by having seen a picture on television or in the newspaper.
“A well-conducted test will maximize the possibility that the reason for identification is recognition and will rule out the other nuisance or extraneous results,” Cutler said.
There is also the factor of having the top investigator of the case, Mark Gottlieb, involved in the line-ups. Research has shown that someone with the correct answers, or additional information, can accidently “tell” the accuser who to pick. Toss in the fact that there were no non-lacrosse players in the line-up as “fillers” and you are left with a seriously flawed process.
And also note that our local Uptown paper of record which, at one point, had three or four reporters writing daily on the Duke case from Durham, somehow did not find a way up Tryon St. to talk to Prof. Cutler.
