Media

Eyewitness Identification: Science and Law Enforcement Practice

University of Washington School of Law

This recording is the first half of a Continuing Legal Education symposium presented at the University of Washington School of Law. In this symposium, I discuss the science behind recent reforms that have been enacted to increase the reliability of eyewitness evidence collected in identification procedures. My contribution begins at the 25:18 mark and continues through the end of this recording. Part 2 of this CLE including a Q&A session is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtqUfquYM8. A transcript of the full CLE is available at https://www.law.washington.edu/multimedia/2013/eyewitness/transcript.aspx.


Wrongful Convictions in Washington State

University of Washington, Tacoma

This recording provides my contribution to a Community Engagement Forum presented at the University of Washington, Tacoma. This forum discussed current issues related to wrongful convictions in Washington State and included contributions from Jacqueline McMurtrie (Director, Innocence Project Northwest), Alan Northrop and Ted Bradford (Washington State exonerees), Philip Sorenson (Assistant Chief Criminal Deputy, Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office), Lara Zarowsky (Policy Director, Innocence Project Northwest), and myself. A playlist including recordings of the entire CEF is available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-r-Ht1OarqAI1rMGY85saKR8zcuCKgOy.


Deadly Injustice: THe Case of Juan Balderas/Latinos en el Corredor De La Muerte

Discovery en Español (Discovery Communications/93 Metros)

This documentary discusses the case of Juan Balderas, who is currently sitting on death row in Texas, and the efforts of his wife, Yancy, who is working to have the Texas Courts reconsider his conviction before his scheduled execution date. Although there was other circumstantial evidence linking Juan to the crime, the primary piece of direct evidence was a positive identification made by a witness to the murder. In this documentary, I discussed the association between mistaken eyewitness evidence and wrongful convictions and assisted with demonstrating the potential fallibility of eyewitness memory via a staged crime and follow-up interviews and identification procedures with the witnesses. This Spanish-language documentary debuted in December 2017 in Latin America on Discovery Latin America and in January 2018 in the United States on Discovery en Español. An edited English-language version was released in the United States in September 2022 on Investigation Discovery.


Press

Below are select links to press coverage of work that I have conducted and cases on which I have been called as a consultant.


Man awarded $27 million for wrongful murder, arson conviction (Chicago Sun-Times - 5/25/23)

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2023/5/25/23734868/wrongful-conviction-adam-gray-chicago-police-department-damages-prison-arson-murder


Guilty: Jury convicts Baker of double murder in Everett shootings (EVERETT HERALD - 5/15/23)

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/guilty-jury-convicts-baker-of-double-murder-in-everett-shootings/


2 men sentenced in connection with murder of Chandler Police officer; MCAO (Fox 10 Phoenix - 8/15/22)

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/2-men-sentenced-in-connection-with-murder-of-chandler-police-officer-mcao


Court convicts man accused of murdering brother of former ASU basketball star (Arizona Republic - 6/15/22)

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2022/06/15/court-convicts-man-2018-tempe-murder-zylan-cheathams-brother/7639769001/



Wrongly accused, local woman sues store chain (The Wenatchee World - 5/27/17)

https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2017/may/27/wrongly-accused-local-woman-sues-store-chain/


Oregon standoff defendant Shawna Cox challenges eyewitness ID of her with firearm at refuge (The Oregonian - 8/19/16)

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/08/eyewitness_id_of_oregon_stando.html


Kidnap victim’s mistaken ID may shake up Seattle police policy (Seattle Times – 5/30/15)

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/kidnap-victims-mistaken-id-may-shake-up-seattle-police-policy/


Wrongfully convicted man released after 10 years in prison (Seattle Times - 12/24/13)

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/wrongfully-convicted-man-released-after-10-years-in-prison/


Clark County to pay wrongfully convicted men $10.5M (The Columbian - 9/30/13)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/sep/30/wrongly-convicted-men-lawsuit-clark-county/