Wrongful Convictions Research Paper

There are several reasons for wrongful convictions. Half of the wrongful convictions can be blamed on police misconduct and other wrongful convictions included false statements and mistaken identity. Wrongful convictions could and should be prevented. One of the most common forms of police misconduct is use of force. We can reduce and eliminate wrongful convictions by punishing police and witnesses who conduct illegal activity and lie on the stand under oath.
Introduction
Wrongful conviction can be described as a miscarriage of justice or an unfair decision in a court of law. It is important to identify wrongful convictions and find ways to reduce or eliminate the causes. We need to free the wrongly prosecuted through DNA testing and help
educate the public that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events that happen. The major causes of wrongful convictions that occur now days are police misconduct, false statements, and mistaken identity.
Causes
According to Barry Scheck, there are several reasons for wrongful convictions. He claims 84% of convictions are due to mistaken identity. He continues by stating that 23% of the time individuals make false confessions. Scheck states that police misconduct is another leading cause of wrongful convictions. Police misconduct happens in 50% of cases. Out of 100 wrongful convictions police misconduct can be blamed for 50 of those. These numbers are staggering. Between witnesses making false statements and police abusing their powers a large number of wrongful convictions could and should be prevented.
While researching why mistaken identities, false confessions, and police misconduct are major causes in wrongful convictions the following information was discovered. The Center for Wrongful Convictions informs us that many mistaken identities have been cleared due to DNA. The Center for Wrongful Convictions also states there are a few reasons for mistaken identities. Sometime eye witnesses testify to receive leniency or immunity from other charges. These cases the witness has an obvious reason for lying. Every once in a while a witness will lie out of spite. Witnesses who lie to seek revenge are often believable. In most cases, there may be other circumstantial evidence along with the witness to make the jury convict.
Why would a person confess to a crime they did not commit? The Center for Wrongful Convictions did a study in the state of Illinois. In Illinois they found 42 wrongful murder convictions. Twenty-five of those wrongful convictions were due to false confessions. The study also explained it is hard to pin point why a person would confess to a crime they did not commit. The reasons are numerous. Police do not look for another suspect. Prosecutorial and police misconduct are causes. At times when fraudulent forensics takes place the police are able to convince the suspect to confess. A leading cause may be ineffective assistance of defense counsel. As some suspects may not be aware of their constitutional rights they are often coerced into making a false confession.
What kind of police activity would lead to a wrongful conviction?
One of the most common forms of police misconduct is use of force. Officers physically or mentally torture suspects. Many wrongful convictions are due to police brutality. Police also mishandle evidence leading to a wrongful conviction. Officers who discriminate also cause wrongful convictions. Discrimination leads to wrongful arrest and wrongful convictions. Police often times deprive suspects of attorneys. They trick the suspect into believing he or she does not need an attorney. Police misconduct is one of the leading causes of wrongful
convictions.
Eliminate
How do we reduce or eliminate wrongful convictions? We may not be able to completely stop wrongful convictions, but there are ways to decrease innocent people being convicted of a crime. According to Barry Scheck a few ways to prevent wrongful convictions are as follows:
- do not do identifications in groups
- videotape all interrogations
- seek money such as the Innocence Protection Act
- lobby for compensations statutes that reimburse individuals who were wrongfully convicted
- punish police harshly who conduct illegal activities
- punish witnesses harshly who lie on the stand
If police and witnesses were punished harshly innocent people may not be sent to prison. If you hit the government in the pocket book they may keep a closer eye on what is going on. The above mentioned are only a few of the many ways we could stop wrongful convictions.
Elimination of wrongful convictions leads to a decrease in crime rates.
As an innocent man or woman is sent to prison the guilty person is free to commit more crimes. They have already gotten away with it and feel more confident to commit another crime. The innocent people who go to prison loose a part of their selves society will never be able to restore. They may go to prison innocent but come out very guilty. Elimination of wrongful convictions is a necessity. We need to do everything in our power to make sure the innocent do not pay for crimes they did not commit. Removal of wrongful convictions from our judicial system will improve society. Punishing an innocent man or woman of a crime he or she did not commit is a crime in
itself.
Wrongfully Convicted
Kenneth Adams, was one of four men wrongfully convicted and after serving more than half of their sentences, they had their convictions overturned because of DNA (Warden, 2002). Kenneth Adams would not have lost precious years of his life had Paula Gray not lied about being a secured witness to the abduction and murder of Lawrence Lionberg and Carol Schmal and rape of Ms. Schmal. The Ford Height Four were able to gain representation by sparking the interest of Northwestern University journalism students who in turn came across valuable information that they shared with the Cook County State's Attorney. Had the police followed proper protocol and procedure, the case would have gone smoother without the lost of precious time and money. Police misconduct costed Cook County $36 million, the larges such settlement in U.S. history. Perry Cobb and Algie Crivens both lost 10 years due to informant perjury, false eyewitness identification, failure to pursue alternative suspect, police misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel and prosecutorial misconduct. Both were charged with murder and both endured long agonizing trials and years behind bars (Warden, 2002).
In conclusion conservatives defend the death penalty, and liberals reject it, which makes for a worthwhile debate, but the real issue is wrongful conviction. A defense of the death penalty as a deterrent or appropriate retribution is not a defense of wrongful conviction. No one wants innocent people convicted. Even if they escape execution, innocents still spend years of their lives in prison awaiting exoneration. The broader issue is the high rate of wrongful conviction. We must understand and draw attention to the fact that wrongful conviction is not confined to capital offenses. If the justice system cannot convict the right person in murder cases, or convict the defendant lawfully according to the rules, how can we have any confidence that police and prosecutors are doing better when it comes to burglary, white-collar criminals, and drug dealers? We can't. No one can assure us that we will be protected from the justice system. One of the main reasons discussed in our paper was perjury. It wasn't the number one reason, but it hold a lot of weight in wrongful convictions. Perjury is embedded in the dominion of federal law enforcement. People's homes are invaded because of lies. People are arrested because of lies. People go to prison because of lies. People stay in prison because of lies, and bad guys go free because of lies. We tried to focus on the problem of wrongful convictions and how corrupt justice goes deeper than law enforcement personnel and cannot be corrected by complaining or exposing a few cases. The very concept of law that protects us from cruelty has been misplaced. Law is no longer the people's shield; law has become a weapon in the hands of government. Justice is no longer a concern of the justice system it is everybody's concern.