1. Social Injustice: The problem with eye witness testimony by Chauncey Michael Murch III

2. The Innocence Project Jennifer Thompson & Ronald Cotton National Litigation and Public Policy Organization Dedicated to exoneration innocent individuals from DNA testing Reforming Criminal Justice System to prevent future injustice

3. Picking Cotton

4. What is the problem?

5. The Facts 317 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States since 1989. – 73% from eye witness misidentifications. 18 of the 317 people exonerated through DNA served time on death row. 16 were charged with capital crimes but not sentenced to death. Races of the 317 exonerees: U.S. Race Population (2010): 199 African Americans 13.2% African Americans 94 Caucasians 77.7% White 22 Latinos 17.1% Latinos 2 Asian American 5.3% Asian American

6. Who benefits? First and foremost, not the innocent Certainly not the African American population Law enforcement, judicial system and media benefit

7. Why does it exist? Cognitive Psychology and human memory – History: Hugo Münsterberg’s publication of On the Witness Stand in 1908. – Plasticity in memory Police bias – Use of improper and out of date psychology techniques (ex: bullying suspects to confess to a crime). Social pressure – To capture the criminal from people, media, politicians and etc.

8. The Case of Ronald Cotton

9. Reform of the Justice System Leading Causes of Wrongful Convictions – Eyewitness Misidentification Testimony – Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science – False confessions and incriminating statements – Use of Informants

10. Scotland Leading the Way Video Identification Parade Electronic Recording (VIPER) – Virtual Identity Parade introduced in 2004 – National database of images of volunteers – speed up the criminal justice process – prevent additional trauma to vulnerable witnesses – valuable police time and resources saved – a major step forward for the criminal justice system in Scotland

11. How To Be A Social Agent Pick up a copy of Picking Cotton Have conversations with others about what you know Look into more research articles Donate to the Innocence Project via their website Reach out to the media Host a local fundraising and educational event