Victim's False Identification of Perpetrator

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This is an article about a man that was falsely identified in a lineup and spent 22 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. I couldnt imagine the amount of frustration and agony that he experienced during the 22 years that he served! DNA finally exonerated him of the crime but only after he served his sentence. The article shows how not only a witness can falsely identify the perpetrators but also how the victim themselves can also be mislead or mistaken of the actual criminal. I thought this article was very interesting because of the amount of time it took to exonerate the accused and also that the victim was in a way unknowingly persuaded to pick the wrong person in the lineup. Its pretty scary to think that this actually occurs and the amount of actually innocent people in prison is higher them we probably assume.

http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/gwells/The_Misidentification_of_John_White.pdf

 

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This article really intrigues me. I am currently reading the book Actual Innocence which is a lot like this case. It is about a guy who is wrongly convicted and spends a lot of time in jail. It is sad to me that someone would spend one second too long in prison if they didn't even commit a crime. My book, this case and hundreds of other cases just like this go to show that our legal system is lacking in many areas. It is good to see that this individual was finally let out, although it took over 20 years. I am interested to see how my book turns out!

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