“Witness misidentification contributed to roughly 75% of the 213 wrongful convictions nationwide that were later overturned through the use of DNA testing. While the need for reform is great and the fixes not too difficult, it is very unfortunate that there is still a strong push back by law enforcement.”
via Plain Error Blog
1 year ago • 0 notes
NPR show “Talk of the Nation” recently aired a piece called “What is owed to the wrongfully convicted?” Appearing on the show were Barry Scheck, Director of the Innocence Project, Rep Ellyn Bogdanoff: Florida House Majority Whip (R) and Alan Crotzer: recently exonerated by DNA evidence after spending 24 *yes TWENTY FOUR!* years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
What’s interesting about this interview is Ellyn Bogdanoff, who likes to cloak herself in warm and fuzzy support of Exoneree Compensation and pretends to believe that Al Crotzer is deserving of such compensation for the nearly two and a half decades he spent behind bars, is really well… full of crap. In one breath she panders to Mr. Crotzer saying he should be compensated, but on the other has introduced her own bill that includes a “Clean Hands* provision which would preclude anyone with a prior felany (no matter the context) from receiving any such compensation. When Mr. Crotzer was a teenager he stole some beer, a crime he bitterly regretted right after, but could potentially be used as an excuse to withold compensating him for the 24 years he spent in prison.
1 year ago • 0 notesFacts on Post-Conviction DNA Exonerations:
There have been 213 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States.
• The first DNA exoneration took place in 1989. Exonerations have been won in 31 states; since 2000, there have been 150 exonerations.
• 16 of the 213 people exonerated through DNA served time on death row.
• The average length of time served by exonerees is 12 years. The total number of years served is approximately 2,613.
• The average age of exonerees at the time of their wrongful convictions was 26.
Races of the 213 exonerees:
129 African Americans
59 Caucasians
19 Latinos
1 Asian American
5 whose race is unknown
• The true suspects and/or perpetrators have been identified in 82 of the DNA exoneration cases.
• Since 1989, there have been tens of thousands of cases where prime suspects were identified and pursued—until DNA testing (prior to conviction) proved that they were wrongly accused.
• In more than 25 percent of cases in a National Institute of Justice study, suspects were excluded once DNA testing was conducted during the criminal investigation (the study, conducted in 1995, included 10,060 cases where testing was performed by FBI labs).
• 45 percent of exonerees have been financially compensated. 22 states, the federal government, and the District of Columbia have passed laws to compensate people who were wrongfully incarcerated. Awards under these statutes vary from state to state.
• 33 percent of cases closed by the Innocence Project were closed because of lost or missing evidence.
-via www.innocenceproject.org
Many people believe that though our criminal justice system may not be perfect, it- in the end, corrects itself. But what about when it doesn’t? What about when innocent people are executed, or spend their lives in jail. Byron Halsey was nearly executed for a crime that DNA evidence proved he did not commit. In fact, it was his neighbor who was guilty of the crime and went on to commit more crimes while Byron Halsey sat on death row. One of the simplest ways for a tragedy like this to be avoided is to mandate videotaping of Police Interrogations. Some states are slowly moving to do this, but far far to many have resisted. This is a major flaw in our justice system and one that could prevent so many false confessions and wrongful convictions.
1 year ago • 0 notes