HB 339: "An Act establishing certain requirements and procedures related to the identification of suspects by eyewitnesses to criminal offenses."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 339 01 "An Act establishing certain requirements and procedures related to the identification 02 of suspects by eyewitnesses to criminal offenses." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 12.50 is amended by adding new sections to read: 05 Article 4. Identification by Eyewitnesses. 06 Sec. 12.50.300. Eyewitness identification proceedings. (a) A law 07 enforcement agency conducting eyewitness identification proceedings shall adopt 08 specific procedures for conducting a photo lineup or a live lineup. The procedures 09 must require that 10 (1) before a photo lineup or a live lineup, a law enforcement officer 11 shall record as complete a description as possible of the perpetrator provided by the 12 eyewitness, in the eyewitness's own words; the statement must include relevant 13 information regarding the conditions under which the eyewitness observed the 14 perpetrator, including location, time, distance, obstructions, lighting, weather
01 conditions, any impairments relating to the vision of the eyewitness, or other 02 impairments; and 03 (2) an independent administrator conduct the lineup; however, when it 04 is impracticable for an independent administrator to conduct a photo lineup or a live 05 lineup, the procedures must require that 06 (A) a blinded administrator conduct the lineup; or 07 (B) the administrator use a procedure that achieves neutral 08 administration of the lineup and that consists of sequential presentation of the 09 lineup. 10 (b) The admissibility of an eyewitness identification as evidence is not 11 precluded by the failure of an agency to adopt procedures under or to satisfy 12 requirements of (a) of this section. 13 Sec. 12.50.310. Training of law enforcement officers. The Department of 14 Public Safety shall create, administer, and conduct a training program for law 15 enforcement officers and recruits in the requirements, methods, technical aspects, and 16 scientific findings related to eyewitness identification proceedings under AS 12.50.300 17 - 12.50.399. 18 Sec. 12.50.399. Definitions. For the purposes of AS 12.50.300 - 12.50.399, 19 (1) "administrator" means the person conducting the lineup; 20 (2) "blinded administrator" means an administrator who might know 21 who the suspect is, but does not know which lineup member is being viewed by the 22 eyewitness; "blinded administrator" includes an administrator who conducts a photo 23 lineup through the use of a folder system or substantially similar system; 24 (3) "eyewitness" means a person whose identification by sight of 25 another person may be relevant in a criminal investigation; 26 (4) "independent administrator" means an administrator who is not 27 participating in the investigation of the criminal offense and is unaware of which 28 person in the lineup is the suspect; 29 (5) "law enforcement agency" means a public agency that performs as 30 one of its principal functions an activity relating to crime prevention, control, or 31 reduction or relating to the enforcement of the criminal law; "law enforcement
01 agency" does not include a court; 02 (6) "law enforcement officer" means an employee of a law 03 enforcement agency; 04 (7) "live lineup" means a procedure in which a group of people is 05 displayed to an eyewitness for the purpose of determining if the eyewitness is able to 06 identify the perpetrator of a crime; 07 (8) "photo lineup" means a procedure in which an array of photographs 08 is displayed to an eyewitness for the purpose of determining if the eyewitness is able 09 to identify the perpetrator of a crime; 10 (9) "suspect" means the person believed by law enforcement to be the 11 possible perpetrator of the offense.