Eyewitness Identification Reform in West Virginia

West Virginia law requires that all law enforcement agencies have a written policy guiding eyewitness identification protocols. It also suggests that all lineups a should be conducted using blind administration, sequential presentation, witness instructions, confidence statements, appropriate filler photo usage, recordation (written/video) of the entire procedure, and that show-ups be performed only in exigent circumstances (using live or photo lineup). Law enforcement agencies covering more than two-thirds of the state’s population have adopted policies that comport with the law’s recommended scientifically-supported best practices. Effective: 2007; Amended most recently: 2013.

Read the statute.

List of West Virginia law enforcement agencies in compliance.

 

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