USA - Texas. The Senate approved bill HB215 that will impose new eyewitness identification procedures for police departments

The Texas Senate this afternoon unanimously approved a bill that will impose new eyewitness identification procedures for police departments across Texas, a key reform recommended to prevent wrongful convictions. House Bill 215, sponsored by Senator Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, requires all police agencies in the state to adopt written eyewitness identification policies based on proven best practices by September 2012. According to the national Innocence Project, approximately 75 percent of the 266 exonerations in the United States have been due to eyewitness misidentification. In Texas, 38 of its 44 DNA wrongful convictions — 86 percent — were largely or exclusively due to incorrect eyewitness identifications, statistics show. Ellis said that even though certain “best practices” have been shown to improve the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness evidence, the Justice Project found in November 2008 that only 12 percent of police departments in Texas even have written policies or guidelines for conducting lineups. The House passed the bill on March 31. The bill now goes to the governor to be signed into law.