Rola ekspertyzy antropologicznej podczas weryfikacji wyników okazania osób

Abstract

Probative value of results obtained in the course of legal proceedings with the participants of the criminal act may vary. This also concerns results of identification by an eyewitness. The exceptional role of its result in the criminal trial derives from the fact that categorical identification of a suspect by the witness becomes directly incriminating evidence. Problems connected with verification of identification parade result, which often occur both in Poland and in other countries, have been presented on the basis of a real criminal case. The main evidence submitted by the prosecutor was identification of several people who had been suspected of theft by an eye witness. Some important doubts relating to their guilt, however, arose in the criminal trial in court several years after the crime. The court decided to use the help of an expert in the field of anthropological identification. Comprehensive analysis of the CCTV recordings from the crime scene and additional examinations carried out by an expert made it possible to verify the results of the identification parade objectively and precisely. For the defendants the anthropological opinion was just exculpatory evidence. However, it opened up new possibilities to obtain information, especially when low quality of CCTV recordings does not allow for a detailed analysis of the characteristics of morphological elements of the head including its front part which is the face.