The Adolf Beck case.

Ever since 1904, judges and juries have been told that eyewitness identifications alone must never make a conviction. We must admit that Adolf Beck was really unlucky. Listen to the story and judge by yourself : In 1895, Adolf Beck was renting a small flat on Victoria Street. One day, stepping out the door of the building where he lived, a woman named Meissonier blocked his way and accused him of having tricked her out of her properties (watches, rings). Beck thought she mistook him for someone else so he brushed her aside and crossed the road. But when the woman followed, he complained to a policeman, only to have her denounce him in turn. Both were taken to the nearest police station and it was Meissonier's accusation that was taken seriously. The inspector who was assigned to the case learned that in the past two years twenty-two women had been defrauded by a gray-haired man who called himself "Lord Wilton de Willoughby" and used basically the same trick as Beck's accuser had described. These women were asked to view a lineup that included Beck, along with ten or twenty men who had been selected randomly from the street. Unfortunately, he was quickly identified by the women as the man who had taken their clothes and jewelery. He ended up by being charged with ten misdemeanors and four felonies which were based on presumed prior convictions in 1877, when a man named John Smith had been sentenced to five years for swindling unattached women by using the name Lord Willoughby, writing worthless cheques, and taking their jewelry. He had disappeared after his release and it was assumed that Beck and Smith were one and the same. Descriptions of John Smith from prison files were never compared with the current appearance of Adolph Beck. In 1896, Adolf Beck was found guilty with no fewer than 12 victims and other witnesses who identified him, most of them with absolute certainty and, despite maintaining his innocence, Beck was sentenced to seven years of penal servitude. He was released in 1903 after he had served out his sentence. You probably believe it's the end of Beck misfortune but actually it isn't: In 1904, a servant by the name of Scott filed a complaint that a gray-haired man had accosted her on the street, paid compliments to her and then stolen her jewelry. The inspector who took the complaint, was familiar with Beck's case and assumed Beck must be the culprit, so he decided to set up a trap. He sent Scott to where Beck lived and as Beck left his flat, Scott accused him of defrauding her of her jewelry. He denied it in vain so he tried to run away but was arrested at once by the waiting policeman. Beck's panicked flight reinforced the inspector's assumption regarding his guilt. He was again put on trial at the Old Bailey. Five other women identified him and, based on this positive identification, he was found guilty by the jury. Hopefully this time the judge expressed some doubts regarding it and decided to postponed sentencing. Luckily ten days later the case was solved once and for all. By coincidence, an investigator, who was familiar with the Beck case, was told of the arrest of a gray-haired man who had tried to swindle some rings from a pair of unemployed actresses using exactly the same tricks of the alleged culprit, Adolph Beck used. But Beck was already in jail, awaiting sentencing. So the inspector went to the new prisoner's cell. It held a gray-haired man, approximately of Beck's height, with certain features which made him look like Beck. The prisoner presented him as William Thomas but the inspector was convinced that he was John Smith. Women, who identified Beck in his second trial were brought in to confront Thomas. They quickly identified him as the swindler and admitted as well their error in identifying Beck. When the man who had been John Smith's landlord in 1877 identified Thomas as his former tenant, the prisoner confessed his crimes. Adolf Beck was given a free pardon by the King in1904, and in compensation for his false imprisonment was awarded 2,000, later raised to 5,000. Eventually a Committee of Inquiry was established to hear evidence from all those involved in the case, including the first judge. In its report, it concluded that Adolph Beck should not have been convicted in the first place due to the many errors made by the prosecution in presenting its case. As a direct result of this miscarriage of justice, important reforms resulted, including the creation of the Court of Criminal Appeal. The case is still cited by judges in Commonwealth countries as a glaring example of how inaccurate eyewitness identification can be.