News: 27 August 09
Wrongful criminal convictions reduced
Developing innovative techniques that improve the accuracy of eyewitness identification of offenders has won a Wellington researcher a top spot at the 2009 MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year Awards.
The awards are presented by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.
Dr Matthew Gerrie, from the School of Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington, receives $5,000 for winning the Science and Our Society category, which is sponsored by the University of Auckland and Auckland UniServices Limited.
Matthew’s research uses infrared eye tracking technology to reduce wrongful convictions based on inaccurate eye witness identifications from police lineups. It also helps to improve eyewitness decision-making processes.
“Increasingly, we are becoming aware of errors that have occurred in the New Zealand criminal justice system which result in the conviction of innocent people,” says Matthew, who helped establish Innocence Project New Zealand (IPNZ), part of a world-wide organisation that investigates and overturns wrongful convictions.
His research applies psychological science to understand eyewitness behaviour during identification processes, and uses new technology to observe eye movements of witnesses attempting to identify offenders from a lineup of suspects.
In his experiments, witnesses viewed a simulated crime scene and were asked to identify an offender from lineups with and without the offender. Matthew recorded eye movement patterns to observe the witnesses’ judgement processes.
By scanning each face in the lineup systematically and then comparing faces in an effort to make a selection, people would sometimes pick an offender, even if the offender was not in the lineup.
The research found that process of elimination, like choosing an answer from a multi-choice selection, was used, instead of people relying on accurate memory recall. This resulted in innocent people being wrongfully identified.
Matthew says his winning research has an important practical application for the way that eyewitness identifications are carried out, and could contribute to new policy for reliable identification procedures.
The 31-year-old winner is a former student of St Patrick’s College, Silverstream.
To find out more about the MacDiarmid Awards visit:
http://www.frst.govt.nz/awards-and-events/MacDiarmid-awards
For further information please contact:
Maria Cobden
Foundation for Research, Science & Technology
Tel: (04) 917 7859 DDI or 021 494594
Email: maria.cobden@frst.govt.nz
Katherine Edmond
Media Liaison, MacDiarmid Awards
Tel: (06) 877 2170 DDI
Mobile: (027) 274 0465
Email: katherine.edmond@clear.net.nz