An extremely vague drawing made by a witness to an alleged crime in the North Eastern United States has led to recent controversy. The drawing created by a witness to an alleged theft appeared to be quickly sketched on an artist’s notepad containing a striking lack of detail. The accuracy of the drawing has led to questions regarding its usefulness in identification. To everyone’s surprise this ambiguous doodling led to a local investigator recognizing the image as a familiar person. Now a warrant has been issued for the alleged thief.
Proponents of eye-witness identification would consider this a victory in the eyes of the law. After the alleged crime was committed, a suspect was swiftly picked out of a series of mugshots, and some would say justice is a well-oiled machine in this respect. The influence of the witness’ sketch, though lacking in detail, could encourage other witnesses of potential crimes to feel more inclined to immediately report acts of wrongdoing. After all, citizen and community policing has long been a hallmark of our justice system.
On the other hand, some would say the serious lack of detail in the sketch resulted in the identification of the wrong suspect. The amateur amount of detail shows the time taken to create the drawing was minimal. The drawing almost resembles that of a stick figure cartoon and such lack of detail raises questions regarding how legitimate the process was in identifying the alleged thief. It is an important fact to note that the first person to make the connection between the drawing and the suspect was coincidentally a detective working for the local police department.
In no way is it our intention to discourage witnesses from coming forward regarding a crime, yet it is important to take things like sketchy/vague drawings with a grain of salt. We here at Bleile & Dawson believe when a serious allegation is made against someone there must be substantial evidence before moving forward. In this case, we are not entirely convinced the police possessed enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant based off a vague and more than likely unreliable drawing.
The attorney’s at Bleile & Dawson are extremely knowledgeable in criminal law, especially when it comes to defending our clients against wrongful accusations, whether in the State of Ohio or the Commonwealth of Kentucky. If you feel you have been wrongly accused of a crime and seek to find the best possible representation to fight for you, hire a law firm that puts the client first and fights hard to protect the client’s rights and reputation. Contact us today for a completely confidential consultation at 513.399.5945