Final answer:
A defense attorney can protect against misidentification by advocating for a double-blind lineup, minimizing suggestive influences on witnesses and aiming to suppress unreliable testimony.
Step-by-step explanation:
A defense attorney can protect against misidentification in an identification procedure by using a double-blind lineup. In such a lineup, neither the administrator nor the witness knows which photo belongs to the suspect, which minimizes the risk of suggestive prompting and leads to a more reliable identification. This method is aligned with the Innocence Project recommendations on reforming police lineups to reduce the risk of misidentification, one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions according to research by the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.
By advocating for this procedure, the attorney can argue before a judge to suppress unreliable eyewitness testimony based on research that highlights the fallibility of eyewitness memory and the suggestibility associated with traditional lineup methods. These efforts align with the scientific community's understanding since the 1970's that suggests the need to mitigate the influence on eyewitnesses to safeguard the accuracy of their testimony.