Criminal investigations: eyewitness identification.

Existing law allows opinion testimony from expert witnesses to be admitted at trial upon specified showings. This bill would allow expert testimony regarding the reliability of an eyewitness identification to be admitted at trial if the proponent of the evidence establishes relevancy and proper qualifications of the witness. Existing law generally regulates the collection and admissibility of evidence for purposes of criminal prosecutions. This bill would authorize any law enforcement agency to adopt regulations for conducting photo and live lineups with eyewitnesses, and provides that specified procedures should be considered when adopting the regulations, including sequentially presenting photos used in an identification procedure and separating all witnesses when viewing an identification procedure. Existing law provides that in any criminal case which is being tried before the court with a jury, all requests for instructions on points of law must be made to the court before commencement of argument. This bill would require the court in a criminal trial or proceeding in which a witness testifies to an identification made before trial, as specified, and where the local law enforcement agency in that jurisdiction has adopted recommended live and photo eyewitness identification procedures, to give specified instructions to the jury, including an instruction that they may consider evidence that law enforcement officers did or did not follow specified procedures during identification procedures when determining the reliability of the eyewitness identification. The bill would authorize the court to provide the same instructions in a jurisdiction that has not adopted the recommended live and photo eyewitness identification procedures.