Os problemas da utilização do reconhecimento fotográfico para embasar condenações penais

Abstract

This article seeks to analyze and address the issue of the problem of using photographic means to support criminal convictions in Brazil, a fact that is applied in cases in which the perpetrator is not caught in the act, that is, when the individual is not caught at the time of committing the criminal offense.

5 When such cases occur, it is not uncommon for some people who were at or near where the incident occurred to help the police by providing information on the physical characteristics of the offender. However, this information given to the police power cannot be treated as an absolute truth, since the possibility of confusing one individual with another is very high, as physical characteristics and facial features can be very common and easy to be confused. Thus, the criminal sentences that use photographic means and information from eyewitnesses as the basis of conviction are very shallow and flawed, since there are currently many cases in which the subject is incarcerated in a penitentiary even though he is innocent and does not have the slightest involvement in the case. Therefore, this is the point at which this academic project seeks to present in a scientific article, which will raise and address how shallow and easy it is to make mistakes in criminal sentences based on photos of the possible perpetrator of the crime. Therefore, the question that remains is: are the photographic means that are used to support criminal convictions really safe and effective, or are they only being used to not leave unresolved cases condemning innocent individuals and assisting in the growing overcrowding of prisons with people who least had their convictions sentenced? Thus, the article will address this issue under a more critical analysis, raising scientific and historical information, in order to reach the criminal and procedural point of this topic.