鈥淚t is the honest, but mistaken, eyewitness who creates the real challenge for the [justice] system,鈥 said James Stribopoulos of 91亚色鈥檚, in The Globe and Mail who was wrongfully convicted of robbery and forcible confinement in 2008. Stribopoulos said eyewitnesses usually appear sincere, making their testimony compelling, yet their evidence can all too often 鈥渂e inherently flawed and completely unreliable.鈥
Stribopoulos praised the fact that trial judges now routinely issue warnings to juries about the frailties of eyewitness testimony, but he said the next step must be a prohibition on all in-court identifications. 鈥淭hat sort of identification evidence is really worthless,鈥 he said. 鈥淎ppellate courts have recognized it as such, but there is still a puzzling reluctance to exclude it from evidence.鈥
teaches Criminal Procedure and Evidence in Osgoode's JD Program, while also serving as director of the Intensive Program in Criminal Law and as co-director of the Part-Time LLM Program Specializing in Criminal Law. In the past, he has served as director of Clinical Education at the Law School and as editor-in-chief of the faculty's blog, .
Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of .