NIJ reports : a selective notification of information program of the National Institute of Justice.

Produced under contract J-LEAA-013-81.

The National Institute of Justice guide for eyewitness identification evidence: Can it improve juror decision-making?

Mistaken eyewitness identifications of innocent lead to more false convictions in the United States than any other cause. In response to concerns about the reliability of eyewitness evidence, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in 1999 published a Guide for the gathering and preservation of eyewitness evidence by law enforcement personnel. Previous research has shown that eyewitness identifications are more accurate when obtained using procedures recommended in the NIJ Guide. This experiment assessed whether informing jurors about the Guide can improve their ability to discriminate between eyewitness identifications likely to be accurate and those likely to be inaccurate and, if so, how to most effectively provide jurors with such information. ^ Seven hundred sixteen U.S. citizens who reported for criminal jury duty participated. Half of the participant jurors read a summary of an armed robbery trial in which the police followed the NIJ Guide when obtaining an eyewitness identification of the defendant. The other half read about an identical case in which the police did not follow the Guide. Jurors received information about the Guide from a court-appointed expert witness, one of the attorneys in the case, the trial judge, the judge in combination with one of the attorneys, or from no one (in the control groups). Jurors then rendered a verdict in the case and answered questions about the evidence in the case. ^ When an expert witness or the judge (either alone or in combination with one of the attorneys) informed jurors about the Guide, the jurors voted to convict defendants likely to be guilty and to acquit defendants likely to be innocent more often than did uninformed jurors assigned to a control group. These data suggest that informing jurors about the NIJ Guide using expert testimony or instructions from a judge will improve the quality and accuracy of jurors' verdict decisions in cases involving eyewitness identification evidence. However, more research is needed to determine whether the judge will remain an effective source of information about the Guide in a longer, more detailed trial scenario and to learn more about the underlying psychological processes governing the effects observed in this experiment. ^

A compendium of bilingual education and related projects at the national institute of education /

Compilation of abstracts of current bilingual research projects funded through the National Institute of Education.

Fundamental research and the process of education : final report to the National Institute of Education /

Mode of access: Internet.

Report on an investigation of the high speed hazards of steel belted radial tires on police cars : prepared for National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. ... /

Mode of access: Internet.

NCI/MARC summer training supplement : Comprehensive Minority Biomedical Program, Division of Extramural Activities, National Cancer Institute in conjunction with Minority Access to Research Careers, National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Mode of access: Internet.

Plenary papers of the 1999 Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation--enhancing policy and practice through research.

"Sept. 2000" (v. 3).

Preventing school violence : plenary papers of the 1999 Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation /

"May 2000."

Tobacco effects in the mouth : a National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Dental Research guide for health professionals /

NIH publication no. 92-3330.

Tobacco effects in the mouth : a National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Dental Research guide for health professionals /

Shipping list no: 94-0140-P.

Neuroscience at the new millennium : priorities and plans for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, fiscal years 2000-2001.

"August 1999."

Advertising 1972. Hearings, Ninety-second Congress, second session, on S. 1461, to require the furnishing of documentation of claims concerning safety, performance, efficacy, characteristics, and comparative price of advertised products and services [and] S. 1753 amendment no. 1118 to establish a National Institute of Advertising, Marketing, Society. May 16, 18, and 31, 1972

"Serial no. 92-72."

Guide to NIST : National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Includes indexes.

Annual Contractor's Conference of the Artificial Kidney Program of the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases; proceedings

Mode of access: Internet.