Eyewitness Reforms Unanimously Accepted

Yesterday, March 16th, the Senate voted unanimously to approve SB 121 – which will require law enforcement agencies in Texas to create and adopt strict eyewitness identification procedures. This bill is one of several filed by Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) that reflect specific recommendations drawn from the findings of the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions. The panel was established during the 81st Legislative Session through to investigate the causes of and ways to prevent wrongful convictions.

Ellis' group of bills includes legislation that would increase the accuracy and reliability of eye-witness identification procedures (SB 121), require electronic recording of custodial interrogations for serious felonies (SB 123), improve the state's post-conviction DNA testing statute (SB 122), and update the Fair Defense Act to improve criminal defense representation for indigent defendants (SB 170). 

 SB 121 also calls for the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, housed at Sam Houston State University, to develop guidelines and training manuals for the law enforcement agencies across the state.

Only 12 percent of law enforcement departments in Texas currently have standards for eyewitness lineups in place, and studies show that in 75 percent of the DNA exonerations around the nation, and in 85 percent of the DNA exonerations in Texas, faulty eyewitness information was to blame for the wrongful conviction.

Before the session began, Sen. Ellis said that he has "high hopes that 2011 will finally be the year that the Texas Legislature says 'enough is enough' when it comes to putting innocent people in prison."