In Britain and America it seems to be the leading cause of miscarriages of justice.
https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-how-little-we-can-trust-eyewitnesses-67663https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/england-unreliable-witness-testimony-biggest-cause-of-miscarriages-of-justice-over-past-50-yearsIn Luke's case the appeal judges agreed that AB's evidence was open to challenge and was not a definitive identification of Jodi only that if the Jury believed it was Luke they were entitled to believe it was Jodi too purely because it would fit with the prosecutions timeline. Judith's statement that Jodi said she was going to meet Luke which she took to mean they would 'be mucking about up here' (Easthouses) and that she was not allowed to use the path alone was used as corroboration for AB's sighting.
During the trial Findlay asked Janine Jones and Alice Walker if Jodi used the path alone and they both said yes.
Findlay asked Janine this twice just to make it clear to the jury she was contradicting her mothers evidence.
This was reported in at least one newspaper but I don't have time to find a link atm.
From the appeal:
Of particular importance in this exercise is evaluation of the identification evidence given by Mrs Bryson. The quality of that evidence was criticised as to its reliability by counsel for the appellant. In particular, the method by which she came to make her identification - by picking out a photograph of the appellant from a range of photographs of young males - was attacked both as a matter of principle and as to the particular photographs used. The fact that the police had, by failing to hold an identification parade, not followed the relevant guidelines was founded on as a significant irregularity. Having considered Mr Bryson's identification evidence in detail, we have come to the view that,
while its reliability was open to challenge, there were elements in it which could reasonably provide the basis for a valid identification of the appellant as the male she had seen and
at least a possible identification of Jodi Jones as the female. Moreover, Mrs Bryson's evidence on this matter did not stand alone. It fitted with evidence that Jodi had left home to meet the appellant with a view to their spending time together in the Easthouses area.
From <https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/judgment?id=e2988aa6-8980-69d2-b500-ff0000d74aa7>
