Accuracy of eyewitnesses with a two-culprit crime: Testing a new identification procedure

Abstract

The accuracy of eyewitness identification in a two-culprit crime was examined using two traditional lineup procedures – simultaneous and sequential – and a newly developed procedure called the two-person serial lineup. Target-present and –absent lineups with each procedure were used. In addition, the ability of witnesses to describe and match culprits to their actions was examined. Participants (n=150) watched a videotaped, staged, theft involving two culprits that had different roles in the crime (assailant vs accomplice). Witnesses were significantly more likely to correctly identify the accomplice than the assailant. There was no evidence of role transference. When the culprits were present in the lineup, identification accuracy did not vary as a function of lineup procedure. When the culprits were absent from the lineup, there was a trend for the two-person serial lineup to produce higher correct rejections than the simultaneous or sequential procedures. Witnesses were significantly more likely to describe the appearance of the assailant, however, they were more accurate with their appearance descriptions of the accomplice. Witnesses were more accurate when describing what the assailant did than the accomplice. A relation between description length and identification accuracy was not found.

Keywords:

• Witnesses
• lineups
• memory
• multiple culprits

This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to the second author.