Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Status

Accepted

Abstract

This article explains how, in State v. Lawson, 291 P.3d 673 (Or. 2012), the Oregon Supreme Court reconsidered the role trial judges must play in screening eyewitness identification. The court recognized the shortcomings of eyewitness evidence, including a high number of wrongful convictions stemming from misidentification, but also recognized that eyewitness identification may be the only evidence connecting a guilty defendant to a crime. In weighing eyewitness identification admissibility questions, Oregon Evidence Code rules (similar to their Federal Rule of Evidence counterparts) 401, 602 and 701 all must be considered by the trial judge.

GW Paper Series

GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 2015-31; GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2015-31

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