ILLINOIS RESISTING LINEUP REFORMS

They don't think that their history of wrongful convictions requires any remedial effort

Criminal defense attorneys say an Illinois report is undermining nationwide efforts to reform what they call deeply flawed police lineup procedures where witnesses view suspects standing together in the same room. The attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday that seeks to force several Illinois police departments to release data used for the 2006 report that criticizes a new method, in which witnesses are shown potential suspects one at a time. "There's a concerted effort to use Illinois to thwart reforms around the country," said Scott Ehlers, of the Washington D.C.-based National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which is the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The NACDL says most studies have concluded the new methods are superior.

The Illinois report, however, is being widely cited by supporters of the status quo as they fight bills in several states to revamp the old lineup procedures, Ehlers said. "Inevitably, police and prosecutors come to hearings and they say, 'But look at Illinois. Illinois said the reforms don't work,"' he said.

Advocates of the new method say police and prosecutors favor the traditional lineup, not because it's better, but because it's less cumbersome and time-consuming. Messages seeking comment from the agencies that provided data for the report were not returned Thursday.

The MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law filed the lawsuit on behalf of the NACDL. It names the superintendent of the Chicago police, the chiefs of the Evanston and Joliet police departments and the director of the Illinois State Police as defendants. The lawsuit alleges that repeated requests for the report's underlying data and protocols have been refused or ignored. "If they're going to justify this flawed system, then the least they owe to us ... is an opportunity to look at the data so we can assess the validity of what's being found here," said attorney Locke Bowman, of the MacArthur Justice Center.

The city attorney for Joliet said he was surprised by the legal action, saying his department had responded to all requests to disclose information related to the report. "We are unaware there are any remaining issues involving their request," Jeff Plyman said. "No information was held back as far as I know." Messages left for the city of Evanston's legal department and for the general counsel to the superintendent of the Chicago police were not returned Thursday. The Illinois State Police had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit and so officials could not comment on it, said spokesman Lt. Scott Compton.

At least 50 people in Illinois are known to have been wrongfully convicted due to erroneous identifications made under the old lineup procedure, said Rob Warden, of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. "But cases we've identified are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg," he said.

The lawsuit follows a yearlong pilot program that began in 2004 and involved police from Chicago, Joliet and Evanston. In the program, potential suspects were brought before witnesses one at a time, and the process was overseen by officers who did not know which one was the actual suspect.

The subsequent report, compiled by the participating agencies and submitted to the Illinois legislature in March, raised questions about the accuracy of the sequential double-blind method. It also said this newer method often caused investigative delays and was difficult to execute. "The data collected shows that the sequential double-blind method led to a lower rate of suspect identifications as well as a higher rate of known false errors," the report concluded.

Report here


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