There is often a dramatic scene in crime shows where an eyewitness points to a suspect in a police lineup. This identification looks convincing on television, and it is also convincing in real-world investigations. But here’s the problem: eyewitnesses can often be wrong. Their mistakes are a leading cause of wrongful convictions.
This risk is even greater when the eyewitness is a child. Although children can correctly identify the perpetrator when they are present in the police lineup, they are more likely than adults to identify an innocent person when the perpetrator is not included in the police lineup.
