In 2011, the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court appointed a Study Group on Eyewitness Identification to "offer guidance as to how our courts can most effectively deter unnecessarily suggestive identification procedures and minimize the risk of a wrongful conviction." In its 2013 report, the Study Group recommended the appointment of a standing advisory committee on eyewitness identification to work on training and to monitor new developments in the applicable science. The Justices adopted that recommendation and formed the Standing Advisory Committee on Eyewitness Identification, which has gone on to work on several projects. Most notably, the Committee's work has resulted in the Court's adoption of the Model Jury Instructions on Eyewitness Identification.
Chair: Hon. Douglas H. Wilkins (Ret.)
SJC Liaison: Timothy E. Maguire, Esq.
Members:
- Hon. Jay Blitzman (Ret.)
- Major Eric J. Benson, Massachusetts State Police
- Prof. Eric Blumenson, Suffolk University Law School
- Hon. Nicholas Brandt, Boston Municipal Court
- Chief William G. Brooks III (Ret.)
- Hon. Tracey E. Duncan, Superior Court
- Rachel J. Eisenhaure, A.D.A., Bristol District Attorney’s Office
- Andre Janiszewski, A.A.G., Office of the Attorney General
- Hon. Tejal Mehta, Ayer District Court
- Lia C. Monahon, Deputy Director, Criminal Justice Institute, Harvard Law School
- Radha Natarajan, Executive Director, New England Innocence Project
- Hon. Linda G. Sable, Juvenile Court Department
- Lisa Steele, Esq., Steele and Associates
- Jill Tessier, Esq., Committee for Public Counsel Services