Bill Text: PA SB578 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishing grant programs to provide funding for pilot field programs to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identifications; and making appropriations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-18 - Referred to JUDICIARY [SB578 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-SB578-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 587
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 578 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY FERLO, FONTANA, STACK, KITCHEN, WILLIAMS AND WOZNIAK, FEBRUARY 18, 2011
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011
AN ACT
Establishing grant programs to provide funding for pilot field
programs to improve the accuracy of eyewitness
identifications; and making appropriations.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Legislative intent.
Because the goal of a police investigation is to apprehend
the person or persons responsible for committing a crime,
because studies of eyewitness identification procedures indicate
that the criminal justice system can significantly decrease the
rate of erroneous eyewitness identifications by implementing
changes to identification procedures, because decreased
erroneous eyewitness identifications increase the ability of
police and prosecutors to convict the guilty and protect our
communities and because new policies and procedures such as
those recommended by the National Institute of Justice are
readily available and have proven effective in other
jurisdictions, the General Assembly finds that it is useful to
conduct pilot field studies of these recommendations to test
their effectiveness and practicability.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Blind." Administration of a lineup or photo spread where
the person who conducts the lineup does not know which person in
the lineup is the suspect.
"Investigator." The person conducting the live or photo
lineup.
"Sequential lineup." Photo and live lineup procedures where
the witness views only one member of the lineup at a time.
Section 3. Establishment of pilot programs.
(a) Attorney General.--The Attorney General shall establish
a grant program to provide funding for pilot field studies of
the effectiveness of eyewitness identification policies and
procedures.
(b) Pilot programs.--Pilot programs shall be granted funding
from the Attorney General for at least one pilot program in each
of the following police departments:
(1) A police district within a police department in a
municipality whose population is at least 500,000 residents.
(2) A police department in a municipality whose
population is at least 100,000 residents but less than
500,000 residents.
(3) A police department in a municipality whose
population is more than 50,000 residents but less than
100,000 residents.
(4) A police department in a municipality whose
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population is less than 50,000 residents.
Section 4. Training in pilot jurisdictions.
The Attorney General shall provide at least one day of
training for the jurisdictions participating in the pilot
programs.
Section 5. Funding levels.
(a) Appropriations.--The sum of $80,000 shall be
appropriated to the Attorney General to provide grants of up to
$20,000 to each police department selected to field test and
report on eyewitness identification procedures. The disbursed
funds shall be used for training, instruction, implementation
and evaluation.
(b) Additional appropriations.--The sum of $7,500 shall be
appropriated to the Attorney General for providing training in
eyewitness identification procedures for the pilot program.
(c) Training.--This training shall include, but not be
limited to:
(1) An overview of relevant contemporary studies of
eyewitness identification procedures and experiences with the
recommended procedures in other jurisdictions.
(2) Instructions for administering the procedures
recommended by the National Institute of Justice.
(3) Recommendations for police department training.
(4) Additional sources of information on the science,
training and experiences with the recommended procedures.
(5) Suggested evaluation procedures of the field
studies, based in part on experiences in other jurisdictions
which have evaluated their eyewitness identification
procedures.
(d) Special training.--For jurisdictions assessing the use
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of sequential lineups, training shall also include procedures
for administering and evaluating sequential lineups.
Section 6. Procedures to be studied.
(a) Pilot program studies.--The pilot program studies shall
include procedures for the use of blind administration of live
and photo lineups and the instructions recommended to accompany
them, including procedures where:
(1) The investigator does not know who among the members
of the live or photo lineup is the suspect.
(2) Each live or photo lineup includes not fewer than
four individuals who resemble the description of the suspect
in all significant respects.
(3) No live or photo lineup contains more than one
suspect.
(4) Prior to the lineup, the investigator provides
instructions to the witness to ensure the witness understands
that the purpose of the identification procedure is to
exculpate the innocent as well as to identify the actual
perpetrator.
(5) The person conducting the live or photo lineup asks
witnesses to use their own words to describe their confidence
levels and refrain from providing any confirmatory
information until after those initial confidence levels have
been recorded.
(b) Additional requirements.--One or more of these studies
shall also include policies and procedures for administering
sequential lineups.
Section 7. Report on the pilot program studies.
The Attorney General shall collect reports from each of the
participating police departments regarding their findings of the
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effectiveness and practicability of the studied procedures and
shall file a report of the findings with the Governor, the Chief
Justice of Pennsylvania, the President pro tempore of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than
November 30, 2012.
Section 8. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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