Inaccurate Eyewitness Identification, Tainted Forensic Testing, False Confessions have led to innocent people convicted. Later DNA testing conclusively showed their innocence.

Posted on: May 23, 2007 at 3:58 p.m.

A recent NY Times article described how 200 people were cleared of any wrongdoing, through DNA testing, after being convicted of serious charges. Many has served over 10 years in prison, and fourteen were on death row awaiting execution. Three quarters of the tainted convictions were marked by inaccurate eyewitness identification, and in other cases there were problems with the way forensic testing was executed by law enforcement. In several, there were false confessions. All this demonstrates that aggressive courtroom advocacy is crucial for all defendants.

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Tagged as: california criminal laws, federal law and defense, jury trial defense, sex crime accusations, violent crimes defense

Comments:

Kelsey Kernstine on November 13, 2007 at 1:10 a.m. wrote:

The two hundred innocent people that have been put in prison or have sat on death row is outrageous. We need to stop innocent people from being convicted. Something needs to change in our legal system to stop people from being wrongly accused and convicted. To punish an innocent person should be of an embarrassment to our legal system, especially since there have been two hundred people. It is so sad to see that these two hundred people have spent time in prison or have waited on death row for execution. It is also distressing to see that the majority of these people wrongly convicted are African American. I think this shows that there are prejudices in the United States. We should be ashamed of our legal system and ourselves. These innocent people have had their life taken away from them. I believe that people who have committed inaccurate eyewitness identification, tainted with forensic testing, or falsified a confession should be punished for their wrongdoings even if it is years after the case. These people have made other people suffer, so they should be punished for doing so. Also, these innocent people who have done time in prison or awaited execution should be paid back for their suffering. These people should be compensated; the question is, if they are compensated, how it is done?

Joana Q. on June 7, 2007 at 8:30 p.m. wrote:

Even before the discovery of DNA evidence, in 1985, Stanford did a study of the past 85 years (from 1900-1985) and found that there had been 350 wrongful convictions, 139 of them were sentenced to death, and 23 of them were actually executed. That's 23 innocent people killed for crimes they didn't commit, and thats without the technology of DNA idntification. The knowledge of the imperfection of our judicial system is not something new.

Anand G. on June 7, 2007 at 7:50 p.m. wrote:

Can the opposite occur? I know that one cannot be found guilty for a crime that he has already been found innocent for. But has it occured that a case, which was not sent to court at the time, was brought to trial years later because of new DNA evidence?

Law Blog on June 2, 2007 at 1:38 p.m. wrote:

There is a national effort to have database for all people arrested (not just convicted) for any crime. This would assist in investigating cases where there is only DNA evidence available and/or the percipient witnesses cannot make identifications (example: murders, rapes, and other serious cases). This database would be similar to the FBI fingerprint database that records the prints of any person arrested anywhere in the United States. People who have never been arrested cannot place their DNA into the database.

Rianne H on May 29, 2007 at 2:18 a.m. wrote:

I heard that all felons, once they have been convicted, have their DNA entered into some national database. Is this true? Is there any way around this? Are people who have not committed serious crimes in the system? Can 'innocent' people choose to have their DNA entered into this system as well?

Law Blog on May 26, 2007 at 12:34 a.m. wrote:

An innocent's person right to sue does not bring back years of a person's life, nor repair the destruction that being behind bars causes to someone. By that time, many of the officers are usually retired, and even if these people receive payouts, this is so rare that is has no real prophylactic effect on law enforcement.

Chelsea York on May 25, 2007 at 9:02 p.m. wrote:

Are there any ways for the police to be held accountable in situations such as these? It seems like in cases such as the OJ case, there could be some common thread between the courts and the police.

Law Blog on May 24, 2007 at 5:58 p.m. wrote:

A jury trial is a significant protection for a criminal defendant. However, police misconduct with suggestive identifications, improper lab procedures during forensic testing, and police forcing suspects to confess --- all cause major errors in jury verdicts.

Lisa Z. Liu on May 23, 2007 at 4:58 p.m. wrote:

I think its interesting to note that while African Americans consist of only 10-12% of the total US population, most of the people (at least the ones with pictures) exonerated of the crime are African Americans here. Does the government give any compensation to these innocent people for their false convictions and lengthy periods in jail? It seems only fair to provide these people with some sort of just compensation for their ruined reputation and lost time.

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Inaccurate Eyewitness Identification, Tainted Forensic Testing, False Confessions have led to innocent people convicted. Later DNA testing conclusively showed their innocence.

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