It’s Time for Indiana to Adopt Eyewitness Identification Reform

Call 260-275-7488 to contact your lawmakers and urge them to support Senate Bill 141.

Over a third of wrongful convictions in Indiana involve mistaken witness identifications. Implementing model eyewitness identification procedures can help prevent that.

Leon Benson spent over 24 years, including 11 years in solitary confinement, for a murder he did not commit. Mr. Benson’s wrongful conviction was based primarily on erroneous eyewitness identification. Mr. Benson was eventually exonerated, but he never should have been convicted in the first place.

Mistaken eyewitness identifications are a contributing factor in 70% of the known wrongful convictions in the United States overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence. More than a third of wrongful convictions in Indiana – 36% – involved a mistaken eyewitness identification with innocent Hoosiers losing a combined 245 years of freedom for crimes they did not commit. 

Indiana can prevent wrongful convictions by enacting Senate Bill 141 which outlines the Core Four best practices for conducting eyewitness lineups. These easy-to-implement procedures are already implemented in 30 other states and by the Department of Justice. Senate Bill 141 also establishes guidelines for the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) to ensure accuracy and prevent wrongful arrests.

Take action to prevent wrongful convictions in Indiana: Urge your lawmakers to support passing Senate Bill 141 to reform eyewitness identification practices.

This campaign is in partnership with the Notre Dame Exoneration Justice Clinic.