Written Policies for Live Lineups, Photo Lineups, and Showups

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Criminal Procedure
  4. Identification Procedures for Live Lineups, Photo Lineups, and Showups
  5. Written Policies for Live Lineups, Photo Lineups, and Showups

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  1. Not later than July 1, 2016, any law enforcement agency that conducts live lineups, photo lineups, or showups shall adopt written policies for using such procedures for the purpose of determining whether a witness identifies someone as the perpetrator of an alleged crime.
  2. Live lineup, photo lineup, and showup policies shall include the following:
    1. With respect to a live lineup, having an individual who does not know the identity of the suspect conduct the live procedure;
    2. With respect to a photo lineup, having an individual:
      1. Who does not know the identity of the suspect conduct the photo lineup; or
      2. Who knows the identity of the suspect use a procedure in which photographs are placed in folders, randomly shuffled, and then presented to the witness so that the individual conducting such procedure cannot physically see which photograph is being viewed by the witness until the procedure is complete;
    3. Providing the witness with instruction that the perpetrator of the alleged crime may or may not be present in the live lineup or photo lineup;
    4. Composing a live lineup or photo lineup so that the fillers generally resemble the witness's description of the perpetrator of the alleged crime;
    5. Using a minimum of four fillers in a live lineup and a minimum of five fillers in a photo lineup; and
    6. Having the individual conducting a live lineup, photo lineup, or showup seek and document, at the time that an identification of an individual or photograph is made, and in the witness's own words without necessarily referencing a numeric or percentage standard, a clear statement from the witness as to the witness's confidence level that the individual or photograph identified is the individual or photograph of the individual who committed the alleged crime.
  3. All law enforcement agency written policies adopted pursuant to this Code section shall be subject to public disclosure and inspection notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50.

(Code 1981, §17-20-2, enacted by Ga. L. 2015, p. 1046, § 4/SB 94.)

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Criminal defendant's age or height as factor in determination of whether circumstances of witness's identification of defendant in photographic array shown by police to witness were impermissibly suggestive as matter of federal constitutional law, 102 A.L.R.6th 365.


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