Erroneous Convictions Research Articles

Evaluating Eyewitness Identification Procedures Using Receiver Operating Characteristic Analysis

Eyewitness identification is a pivotal issue in applied research because, in practice, a correct identification can help to remove a dangerous criminal from society, but a false identification can lead to the erroneous conviction of an innocent suspect. Consequently, psychologists have tried to ascertain the best procedures for collecting identification evidence, evaluating them using measures based on the ratio of correct to false identification rates. Unfortunately, ratio-based measures are ambiguous because they change systematically as a function of a witness’s willingness to choose. In other words, a measure thought to index discriminability is instead fully confounded with response bias. A better method involves constructing receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Using ROC curves, researchers can trace out discriminability across levels of response bias for each procedure. We illustrate the shortcomings of ratio-based measures and demonstrate why ROC analysis is required. In recent studies, researchers comparing simultaneous and sequential lineup procedures using ROC analyses have provided no evidence for the sequential superiority effect and instead have shown that the simultaneous procedure may be diagnostically superior. It is not yet clear which lineup procedure will prove to be generally superior, but it is clear that ROC analysis is the only way to make that determination.

Association between cognitive insight and prefrontal function during a cognitive task in schizophrenia: A multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy study

Insight has been studied mostly from a clinical perspective. Recently, the focus of this research field shifted to cognitive insight or the ability to monitor and correct the erroneous convictions of individuals. In this study, we investigated the relationship between cognitive insight and prefrontal function during a cognitive task in 30 patients with clinically stable schizophrenia and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. We measured the changes in hemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal and temporal cortical regions during a verbal fluency task (VFT) by using 52-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Cognitive insight was measured using the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). Regional hemodynamic changes were significantly smaller in the schizophrenia group than in the control group in prefrontal and temporal regions, and significant positive relationship was observed between the score of the BCIS self-reflectiveness subscale and right ventrolateral prefrontal and right temporal functions during the VFT. These results suggest that the right ventrolateral prefrontal and temporal cortical regions are associated with cognitive insight in clinically stable patients with schizophrenia and that NIRS is an efficient medical tool for monitoring these characteristics.

Scientific Letter: Monosymptomatic Hypochondriacal Psychosis (somatic delusional disorder): A report of two cases

Historically, the term Monosymptomatic Hypochondriacal Psychosis (MHP) was first used by Munro in 1978. MHP isclassified as a somatic type of delusional disorder in DSM-IV and is defined as an erroneous conviction of bodily disease, abnormality or alteration. It includes delusional beliefs about bodily sensations or functions; such as feeling malodorous, being infected by parasites, having dysmorphic features, or that a certain organ is no longer functioning. MHP has been divided into 4 main categories: Delusions of infestation (including parasitosis); delusions of dysmorphophobia, such as of misshapenness, personal ugliness, or exaggerated size of body parts (this seems closest to that of body dysmorphic disorder); delusions of foul body odours or halitosis or delusional bromosis (also known as olfactory reference syndrome); and a miscellaneous group.

Poster #64 COGNITIVE INSIGHT AND ATTENUATED POSITIVE SYMPTOMS IN AT-RISK MENTAL STATE

Insight has been studied mostly from a clinical perspective. Recently, the focus of this research field shifted to cognitive insight or the ability to monitor and correct the erroneous convictions of individuals. In this study, we investigated the relationship between cognitive insight and prefrontal function during a cognitive task in 30 patients with clinically stable schizophrenia and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. We measured the changes in hemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal and temporal cortical regions during a verbal fluency task (VFT) by using 52-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Cognitive insight was measured using the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). Regional hemodynamic changes were significantly smaller in the schizophrenia group than in the control group in prefrontal and temporal regions, and significant positive relationship was observed between the score of the BCIS self-reflectiveness subscale and right ventrolateral prefrontal and right temporal functions during the VFT. These results suggest that the right ventrolateral prefrontal and temporal cortical regions are associated with cognitive insight in clinically stable patients with schizophrenia and that NIRS is an efficient medical tool for monitoring these characteristics.

The neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive insight in schizophrenia

Insight has been mostly studied from a clinical perspective. Recently, attention moved to cognitive insight or the ability to monitor and correct one's erroneous convictions. Here, we investigated the neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive insight. We administered the Beck cognitive insight scale to 45 outpatients with a schizophrenia diagnosis and 45 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects who underwent a MRI investigation, including high-resolution volumetric and diffusion tensor imaging sequences. Gray and white matter volume, mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy were used as dependent variables and were analyzed on a voxel-by-voxel basis with reference to the cognitive insight indexes. Self-reflectiveness was positively related to gray matter volume of the right ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). No statistically significant results emerged from the DTI analyses, and no significant relationships were found for self-certainty and global cognitive insight. Reduced self-reflectiveness is related to a reduced volume of the VLPFC, an area involved in generating and maintaining in working memory different hypotheses about the self. This line of research focusing on the metacognitive features of insight in schizophrenia can provide relevant information to identify patients who are most vulnerable to lack of insight and develop effective cognitive therapeutic strategies.

Firmament or Folly? Protecting the Innocent, Promoting Capital Punishment, and the Paradoxes of Reconciliation

Although considerable controversy surrounds capital punishment, there is no disagreement about the injustice of executing innocent persons. While critics of the death penalty have cited the risk of executing the innocent as a reason for its abolition, adherents have dismissed the risk of error as negligible, if not inevitable, and insufficient reason to halt capital punishment. Still others have proposed or enacted reforms designed to minimize the risk of erroneous capital convictions and sentences and, hence, allow executions to go forward in deserving cases in which doubts about guilt have largely been eradicated. In this article, we examine the principled tensions that accompany attempts simultaneously to safeguard the innocent from execution while promoting the objectives of capital punishment. We focus, in particular, on reforms recently incorporated into Maryland’s death penalty law. We suggest that the existing tensions between protecting the innocent from execution and promoting the objectives of capital punishment are so pronounced that attempted reconciliation of the competing interests is difficult to defend, either in principle or in practice.

The Lombrosian prejudice in medicine. The case of Epilepsy. Epileptic psychosis. Epilepsy and aggressiveness

In the nineteenth century, epilepsy became subject of experimental research. Lombroso established a relationship between epilepsy and criminality believing in the existence of epileptoid traits and atavism. He tried to demonstrate the common origin of epilepsy, criminality, and genius; factors deteriorating the CNS would act upon centers, which control behavior and ethics. This impairment would cause a lack of control on the lower nervous centers, reducing restraints of instincts and criminal behavior. He described developmental frontal cortex lesions in epileptic patients (today Taylor's dysplasia) and these observations supported the erroneous conviction of a relationship between criminality and epilepsy. Neurological, behavioral, and criminological sciences analyzed Lombroso's doctrine, whereas it was controversial that epileptic patients should be prone to violent actions and aggressive behavior. Today, there is an international panel of experts on epilepsy, which suggests five relevant criteria to determine if a crime committed with aggressiveness could result from epileptic seizures.

The neuropsychological correlates of cognitive insight in healthy participants

AbstractCognitive insight is the ability to monitor and correct one's own erroneous convictions. The Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) assesses two sub‐dimensions of cognitive insight: self‐reflectiveness (SR), which is the attitude of questioning one's own judgments; and self‐certainty (SC), which is the unwillingness to modify and correct one's own convictions. There is little information about cognitive insight in healthy participants (HP). Here we investigated the socio‐demographic and neuropsychological correlates of cognitive insight in 50 HP who were administered the BCIS and a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. The global BCIS R‐C index correlated positively with age and WCST perseverative errors. SR correlated positively with age. These data support the hypothesis that a less self‐reflective and more self‐confident style is cognitively functional in HP. Thus, what has been found malfunctioning in mental illnesses is adaptive in HP. Future studies should consider a wider range of factors that might affect this complex construct. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Neuropsychological correlates of cognitive insight in schizophrenia

Clinical practice has highlighted a possible discrepancy between patient's verbal assertions, called clinical insight, and the actual convictions about the illness, called emotional insight. The complementary construct of cognitive insight refers to the cognitive processes involved in self-reflection and the ability to modify erroneous beliefs and misinterpretations. The aim of this study was to determine the psychopathological and neuropsychological predictors of cognitive insight in schizophrenia. Sixty outpatients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) schizophrenia diagnosis were administered the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), and a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Results indicate that poor global cognitive insight in schizophrenia is significantly related to lower visual working memory, while a higher self-overconfidence is significantly related to deficits in verbal and visual memory and to the failure in using external information to correct erroneous convictions. Thus, our study suggests that impaired cognitive insight depends mainly on reduced working memory and executive function performances. These findings highlight the fundamental importance of the development of specific therapeutic strategies to improve the metacognitive components of insight in order to enhance treatment adherence in schizophrenia.

Letters to the Editor

Background: Rapid and accurate recognition of traumatic injuries is extremely important in emergency room and surgical settings. Emergency departments depend on computed tomography (CT) scans to provide rapid, accurate injury assessment. We conducted an analysis of all traumatic deaths autopsied at the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office in which perimortem medical imaging (CT scan) was performed to assess the reliability of the CT scan in detecting trauma with sufficient accuracy for courtroom testimony. Methods: Cases were included in the study if an autopsy was conducted, a CT scan was performed within 24 hours before death, and there was no surgical intervention. Analysis was performed to assess the correlation between the autopsy and CT scan results. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were defined for the CT scan based on the autopsy results. Results: The sensitivity of the CT scan ranged from 0% for cerebral lacerations, cervical vertebral body fractures, cardiac injury, and hollow viscus injury to 75% for liver injury. Conclusions: This study reveals that CT scans are an inadequate detection tool for forensic pathologists, where a definitive diagnosis is required, because they have a low level of accuracy in detecting traumatic injuries. CT scans may be adequate for clinicians in the emergency room setting, but are inadequate for courtroom testimony. If the evidence of trauma is based solely on CT scan reports, there is a high possibility of erroneous accusations, indictments, and convictions.

Forensic DNA evidence and the death penalty in the Philippines

The death penalty remains a contentious issue even though it has been abolished in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, European Union member nations and some Asian countries such as Cambodia, East Timor and Nepal. Many argue that the irrevocability of the death penalty, in the face of potential erroneous convictions, can never justify its imposition. The Philippines, the first Asian country that abolished the death penalty in 1987, held the record for the most number of mandatory death offenses (30 offenses) and death eligible offenses (22 offenses) after it was re-imposed in 1994. Majority of death penalty convictions were decided based on testimonial evidence. While such cases undergo automatic review by the Supreme Court, the appellate process in the Philippines is not structured to accept post-conviction evidence, including DNA evidence. Because of the compelling nature of post-conviction DNA evidence in overturning death penalty convictions in the United States, different groups advocated its use in the Philippines. In one such case, People v Reynaldo de Villa, the defendant was charged with raping his 13-year-old niece that supposedly led to birth of a female child, a situation commonly known as ‘criminal paternity’. This paper reports the results of the first post-conviction DNA test using 16 Short Tandem Repeat (STR) DNA markers in a criminal paternity case (People v Reynaldo de Villa) and discusses the implications of these results in the Philippine criminal justice system.

Introduction to commentaries on the Illinois Pilot Study of lineup reforms.

Between 2000 and 2002, the Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment, appointed by then-Governor George Ryan, reviewed the justice procedures that lead to capital punishment with the objective of identifying reforms that enhance the system's fairness and accuracy. The Com mission issued its report in 2002. In recognition of the potential role of mistaken identification in erroneous con viction, this report included six recommendations concerning eyewitness identification procedures, several of which have since become law (see Mecklenburg 2006 for details). Following this report, the Illinois legislature mandated a study of the effects of double-blind and sequential lineup procedures (two of the six recommendations of the Com mission) and provided guidance for the study protocol. In 2004, the Illinois State Police appointed Sheri Mecklen burg (who would later become Chief Counsel to the Chicago Police Department and is now Assistant United States Attorney) as Director of the field study. The study was carried out in three Illinois districts. Data were col lected in 2004 and 2005 and were analyzed by Drs. Roy Malpass and Ebbe Ebbesen (independently). Details of the study and findings appeared in the Report to the Illinois Legislature (Illinois Pilot Report; Mecklenburg 2006). Since its publication, the Illinois field study has received a great deal of attention among eyewitness researchers, law enforcement, and attorneys. The Illinois Pilot Report has

Incentive Effects of State Liability for Wrongful Conviction on the Level of Crime

The criminal justice system is not infallible. This unfortunate but unavoidable fact has been known for some time. For many reasons, in spite of advocacy raised as early as 1913 by Borchard to offer compensation to those wrongfully convicted and later exonerated, currently in the United States only 15 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government have laws for such compensation. Further, the compensation is fairly meager, and compensation is usually not granted if the alleged criminal pleaded guilty in cases involving confessions. Outside the United States, a different era seems to be on the horizon. In recent years, the scope of state liability has been expanding through membership in international organizations and through international treaties. In particular, the Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms encourages compensation for anyone punished as a result of a wrongful conviction. Article 3 of Protocol 7, Compensation for Wrongful Conviction, states that: When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed, or he has been pardoned, on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to the law or the practice of the State concerned, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributable to him. Although this article lacks specifics, it clearly endorses compensation for the wrongfully convicted. People who are wrongfully convicted and later exonerated should be compensated for many reasons. The wrongfully accused typically incur huge legal expenses for defense. They lose their earning opportunities and their reputations while in prison, and they suffer psychological harm. It is just to compensate these victims - society is responsible for rectifying its errors by helping these victims regain normal lives when they are released from prison. Following Borchard, scholars also raised the possibility of applying eminent domain principles to compensate those wrongfully convicted, making the case that takings are involved when these victims are incarcerated. Against this backdrop, our paper attempts to study the compensation problem in a different direction. We ask whether expanding the scope of state liability would improve the well-being of citizens after public wrongs occur. In particular, we propose that compensating the wrongfully convicted after exoneration could affect the aggregate level of crime. A model will be developed in which we first point out that the possibility of wrongful conviction, although it cannot be avoided, in fact increases the amount of crime committed as compared to the idealistic case of no erroneous conviction. Then the simple model is extended to show why state liability for wrongful conviction changes criminal behavior. We conclude that the net impact of the expansion of state liability is that the aggregate level of crime decreases.

Taking a Stand on Taking the Stand: The Effect of a Prior Criminal Record on the Decision to Testify and On Trial Outcomes

This article uses unique data from over 300 criminal trials in four large counties to study the relations between the existence of a prior criminal record and defendants testifying at trial, between testifying at trial and juries' learning about a criminal record, and between juries' learning about a criminal record and their decisions to convict or acquit. Sixty percent of defendants without criminal records testified compared to 45 percent with criminal records. For testifying defendants with criminal records, juries learned of those records in about half the cases. Juries rarely learned about criminal records unless defendants testified. After controlling for evidentiary strength and other factors, statistically significant associations exist (1) between the existence of a criminal record and the decision to testify at trial, (2) between the defendant testifying at trial and the jury learning about the defendant's prior record, and (3) in cases with weak evidence, between the jury learning of a criminal record and conviction. For cases with strong evidence against defendants, learning of criminal records is not strongly associated with conviction rates. Juries appear to rely on criminal records to convict when other evidence in the case normally would not support conviction. Use of prior record evidence may therefore lead to erroneous convictions. Prosecutors and judges should consider the increased likelihood of erroneous conviction based on use of prior convictions in decisions to prosecute and in evidentiary rulings.

Absolute Certainty and the Death Penalty

It is generally well understood that the proper standard of proof in criminal cases is the familiar a reasonable standard. Recently, however, there have been proposals to create a new standard of proof - such as beyond all doubt or no doubt - for capital cases as a way of protecting against erroneous convictions. These proposals have become more urgent in light of revelations of serious errors in capital cases in recent years. This paper critiques such proposals. I argue that a higher standard of proof in capital cases can only be coherently justified on consequentialist grounds; and, if consequences are what matters, a higher standard of proof is unlikely to have the desired effect. Decades of empirical evidence show that changes to the wording of jury instructions are likely to have little, if any, impact on how jurors reach their decisions. As an alternative, I propose several other changes that might actually help guard against erroneous convictions in capital cases. First, I suggest either eliminating or altering the present system of death qualification of jurors in capital cases, which leads to an artificially low standard of proof in such cases. Second, I suggest several changes to the way in which jurors are instructed. Changing the verbal formulation is not likely to be effective, but instructing jurors at the beginning, rather than the end, of the case in the standard of proof; giving jurors written instructions; and finally, expressing the standard of proof in quantitative terms to ease comprehension all may achieve more satisfactory results.

Race for Your Life: An Analysis of the Role of Race in Erroneous Capital Convictions

Prior research on the role of race in wrongful capital convictions has focused primarily on the race of the defendant. In contrast, this article begins with two case studies that illustrate the impact of the race of the defendant and also the race of the victim in contributing to erroneous convictions. The second section of this article identifies the race of the defendant and the victim in 82 cases where prisoners were released from death row because of doubts about their guilt and in a matched group of inmates who were executed. Through the use of three logistic regression models, the combination of the race of the defendant and the race of the victim is identified as a significant predictor of case outcome (exoneration vs. execution). The results also indicate that an indirect relationship may exist between the combination of the race of the defendant and the victim, the strength of the evidence, and case outcome.

We Said, She Said: A Response to Loftus (2003).

Abstract In Loftus' (included in this issue) commentary on our article, she agreed with many of our conclusions concerning allegations in he said, she said legal cases. However, she focused some criticism on our coverage of recovered memory evidence. It appears that the main difference in our perspectives was not related to the science of memory but rather was one of education versus advocacy in the legal system. Porter, Campbell, Birt, and Woodworth (this issue) provided a review of the psychological science relevant to understanding the validity and characteristics of memories for crimes - or alleged crimes - from the distant past. We feel strongly that psychology has the potential to improve legal decision-making and avoid miscarriages of justice in historical cases. We agree with Loftus (this issue) that to a large extent this potential already has been realized in the related application of findings on eyewitness memory and identification in the courtroom. It is widely recognized in both the and legal communities (as reflected in the Sophonow Inquiry) that eyewitness errors have directly contributed to wrongful convictions. Much more controversial is the use of uncorroborated memory reports by complainants concerning incidents that may have happened decades ago, that serve as the main evidence in many trials. This issue is further complicated when the evidence is based on recovered memories of the alleged incident. In the Porter et al. article, we noted that Canadian courts have responded to historical memory evidence in a highly inconsistent fashion. Since the writing of Porter et al. (this issue), the situation has been improving. Starting in December, 2002, the National Judicial Institute (based in Ottawa) - an organization dedicated to the development and delivery of educational programs for all federal, provincial, and territorial judges - has organized an annual Wrongful Convictions conference at which judges are provided with a wide range of information on factors contributing to erroneous convictions. Along with eyewitness researcher Rod Lindsay and other psychologists, the first author of the present paper has had the opportunity to speak with numerous judges and lawyers about psychological science and its relevance to credibility assessment in the courtroom. In the long run, this educational approach involving large numbers of the judiciary is likely more effective than expert psychological testimony in any given case. In her commentary, Loftus (this issue) chose to focus most of her attention on the sections of our paper that dealt with recovered memories, and little on the sections dealing with continuous memories, intentionally false allegations, etc. From this, we assume that Loftus agreed with our conclusions on these other important issues. Although she stated that while strongly agreeing with some of their conclusions, I disagreed with others, in reading her commentary we only were able to uncover one major disagreement with our conclusions and this dissension was not scientific in nature (we will return to this point later). However, our views differed concerning whether to argue explicitly to keep dubious claims of repression out of the courtroom. That is, instead of making a policy recommendation (i.e., keep such and such evidence out of the court), we stuck to providing a review and scientifically founded guidelines. In our view, it is not our role as psychologists to make policy decisions for the legal system, just as it is not our role to comment on whether recovered memory evidence should be admissible in the courtroom. We argue that this is simply not our question to answer. Rather, our role as psychological researchers is to provide the relevant information to legal decision-makers to assist them in policy and case decisions. On the flipside, imagine if lawyers started telling us how to do good science. …

How effective are the cross-examination and expert testimony safeguards? Jurors' perceptions of the suggestiveness and fairness of biased lineup procedures.

Mock jurors (N = 800) viewed a videotaped trial that included information about a lineup identification procedure. Suggestiveness of the eyewitness identification procedure varied in terms of foil, instruction, and presentation biases. Expert testimony regarding the factors that influence lineup suggestiveness was also manipulated. Criteria included juror ratings of lineup suggestiveness and fairness, ratings of defendant culpability, and verdicts. Jurors were sensitive to foil bias but only minimally sensitive to instruction and presentation biases. Expert testimony enhanced juror sensitivity only to instruction bias. These results have implications for the effectiveness of cross-examination and expert testimony as safeguards against erroneous convictions resulting from mistaken identifications.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: An Analysis of Post-Furman Capital Errors

The issue of erroneous convictions in capital cases has recently gained considerable nationwide media attention. This article builds on prior research by examining 76 cases of inmates who were released from death rows between 1970 and 1998 because of doubts about their guilt. By using sources, or persons who have extensive insider knowledge about these cases, as well as published court opinions, it was possible to identify the causes of the wrongful convictions as well as the significant events that led to the discovery of the miscarriages of justice. The data indicate that prosecutorial misconduct, perjury of witnesses, police misconduct, and racial discrimination were influential factors that led to the wrongful convictions. In addition, continued investigation by the defense attorney, new witnesses coming forward, and/or a confession from another person were the factors most often leading to the discovery of errors. These findings suggest that there have not been any significant changes in causes of erroneous convictions since the implementation of contemporary safeguards. As a result, policy changes are suggested to decrease the chances of erroneous executions.

Misleading intuition in algorithmic problem solving

This paper presents a study of misleading intuition in the domain of algorithmic problem solving. I noticed incorrect intuitive solutions to challenging algorithmic problems and interviewed students on their solutions. The students arrived at an erroneous conviction rather rapidly and demonstrated overconfidence and reinforcement of their incorrect ideas when presented with new evidence. I present two colorful and unfamiliar algorithmic challenges posed to the students, describe and discuss my experience, and offer some suggestions for reducing the effect of misleading intuition.