California lawmakers, seeking to reduce the chances of innocent people going to prison...

California lawmakers, seeking to reduce the chances of innocent people going to prison, have approved proposals to require that interrogations of violent-crime suspects be tape recorded, and to set new guidelines for eyewitness identifications at lineups and photo displays.
The bills, sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on the final day of the legislative session last week, grew out of findings by a state commission that was created to determine and eliminate the causes of wrongful convictions.
A commission report in July said the need to record interrogations is illustrated by numerous cases of suspects who confess to crimes they didn't commit.
The bills are the first to stem from reports issued by the commission, which the state Senate established in 2004 to look into the causes of wrongful convictions and recommend changes. Its 19 members include prosecutors, defense lawyers, police representatives and scholars.
Future hearings will look into the role of jailhouse informants, physical evidence, attorney incompetence and misconduct, and the administration of the death penalty. A final report is due at the end of 2007.
The interrogation bill, SB171 by Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, would require audiotaping of violent-felony suspects questioned in a police station.
The eyewitness bill, SB1544 by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, addresses what the commission described as the leading cause of wrongful convictions, mistaken identifications.
The key finding is that mistaken identifications can be reduced if the officer who supervises a lineup, or displays photos to a witness, doesn't know who the suspect is and thus is unable to give subtle hints to the witness. The commission also recommended that photos or members of a lineup be presented to a witness individually, rather than in a group, so that the witness can make individual decisions rather than saying which person looks most like the suspect. Witnesses should also be asked how certain they are of their identifications and should be told that the suspect may or may not be in the lineup or photo display, the commission said.