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Photo Spread Analysis: Criminal Procedure And Evidence

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Photo Spread Analysis: Criminal Procedure And Evidence
Photo Spread Analysis
David M. Grable
CCJS 234 – Criminal Procedure and Evidence
April 26, 2015

To: Judge J. Doe
From: David M. Grable
Date: April 26, 2015
Subject: Photo Spread Analysis

A photo spread would be presented to both the victim, Vicky, and the witness, William since their recollection of the assailant is similar. The photo spread should be presented to Vicky first because she was unable to view the assailant’s entire face and was taken by surprise by the incident. Her recollection is not as thorough as the witness and she is prone to lose what detail she can recall more quickly than the witness. William was able to view the assailant from the front prior to, during, and after the incident occurred. He will have a more thorough description of identifiers than Vicky and had a longer view of the assailant. …show more content…
Department of Justice, 1999). There should be 6-8 photos of white males with similar features of the suspect. Since Vicky was only able to view the profile of the assailant then profile pictures should be included in the spread.
The spread should be displayed separately to each witness, again, based on NIJ guidelines (U.S. Department of Justice, 1999). The witnesses should view the spread without an interference or suggestion of which photo may contain the suspect. Inform the witnesses that they will be viewing photos that may or may not contain the suspect and that it is just as important to maintain innocence as it is to apply guilt.
The only facts contained in the scenario that could prevent a positive identification would be the amount of time, the element of surprise, and angle at which Vicky viewed the suspect. This would infringe on the reliability aspect of due process. According to Neil v. Biggers, 1972, p.
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