Important Eyewitness ID Case Out of Hawaii….

From BNA.com:

Last week, the Supreme Court of Hawaii held that “a trial court must grant a defendant’s request to give special cautionary jury instructions on the accuracy of eyewitness identification testimony whenever such testimony is central to the prosecution’s case, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled May 17.  (State v. Cabagbag, Haw., No. SCWC-30682, 5/17/12).  Citing the “widely-recognized perils of eyewitness identification testimony” and numerous studies confirming that false identifications are more common than previously known, the court followed the lead of several other jurisdictions that have decided to abandon the discretionary approach and now require trial courts to grant a defense request for a cautionary instruction whenever eyewitness identification plays a critical role in the case.

Decision here…