IPFS News Link • Justice and Judges
Judges Must Warn New Jersey Jurors About Eyewitnesses' Reliability
• New York TimesAlmost a year after the New Jersey Supreme Court made a sweeping ruling aimed at resolving the "troubling lack of reliability in eyewitness identifications," it issued instructions on Thursday for judges to give jurors to help them better evaluate such evidence in criminal trials.
A judge now must tell jurors before deliberations begin that, for example, stress levels, distance or poor lighting can undercut an eyewitness's ability to make an accurate identification.