It says “You will be shown a series of images…” The admonishment I use doesn’t specify the amount of images used. In presenting the photo array I use the same admonishment I’d use for presenting a “six pack.” Consider the use of “confederates,” images with no connection to the crime, if its necessary due to a lack of possible subjects or subjects matching the suspect description. Too many images defeats the purpose and will often lead to a bad ID or no ID at all. Between five and 15 images would be ideal. When using an array try to keep this number of images to a minimum. This type of “fishing expedition” would be ineffective and would be a case of “putting the cart in front of the horse.” Photo arrays should be used in the latter stages of an investigation and only after most other techniques have been exhausted and only after a list of possible suspects have been identified. I wouldn’t use a photo array that wasn’t based on a prior investigation that identified possible suspects. Faced with overwhelming evidence, the suspect pled to a double-digit prison term. The victim positively identified the same suspect! Other co-defendants cooberated the main suspect’s identity and involvement too. We then prepared a six pack with the suspect who had been identified via the photo array and showed it to the victim. It’s important to note though that we didn’t use the photo array as the only form of probable cause - only as a means of furthering the investigation. Rather, it contained the most likely perpetrators based on the investigation. What’s important here is that the photo array wasn’t a random series of images. This resulted in the identification of the main suspect. My partner showed the array to a bartender who had been at the restaurant the night of the assault. I prepared a photo array containing 13 images - all members of the same gang who had been contacted with the already identified suspects. They were all linked by being members of the same gang and had been contacted together. We researched the accomplices of the identified suspects that matched the description of the primary suspect. Through the video we were able to identify some of the suspects but were unable to identify the main offender. In 2012, I investigated a gang-related assault that was captured on a restaurant’s CCTV. The photo array is more refined however in the fact that the investigator is choosing from a smaller pool of possible involved suspects that he has identified (rather than a book containing images of every crook in your city). It’s similar in concept to the “mugbooks” of old when a witness would go through books of pictures of possible suspects to identify a culprit. Simply put, a photo array is a series of images of possible suspects that are presented to a witness. Say, for example, you narrow the suspect pool down to 10 suspects, do you really want to prepare 10 six packs? Similarly, is it wise to show that many six packs to a victim or witness? That many images will overwhelm the viewer and can result in misidentification or failure to identify. A detective could prepare a series of six packs to show to the victim but this can be problematic. This often makes it difficult to identify one particular suspect. Gang members often dress the same, have the same haircuts, same tattoos, and are often of the same racial background. Rather, he has a group of possible suspects that may be responsible for a crime. Unfortunately, there are cases where the investigator doesn’t have it narrowed down to one particular suspect. It is a proven technique when you have a known suspect and the witness or victim can identify him or her. We’re all familiar with the “six pack” as an investigative tool for identifying suspects.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |