HB 1744 Summary

• Amends Act 281 (Session Laws of Hawaii 2019) to clarify and provide flexibility in eyewitness identification procedures for law enforcement.

• Requires law enforcement to conduct photo lineups and live lineups with a blind or blinded administrator, unless impracticable, and prohibits showups except in exigent circumstances (temporary detention or arrest at or near crime scene).

• Mandates specific procedures including: recording eyewitness descriptions before identification, using at least 5 fillers in photo lineups and 4 in live lineups, conducting separate viewings for multiple eyewitnesses, documenting suspect confidence statements, and making video records of all procedures.

• Establishes that noncompliance with identification procedures does not automatically exclude eyewitness identification evidence; admissibility determined by whether identification has sufficient reliability under totality of circumstances.

• Changes Act 281 effective date from June 1, 2020 to September 1, 2020; bill itself takes effect July 1, 2050.