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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for wrongful convictions
25 results foundAuthor: Innocence Project Title: 250 Exonerated: Too Many Wrongfully Convicted Summary: This report details the background of 250 DNA exoneration cases and includes statistics on the common causes of the wrongful convictions. Details: New York: Innocence Project, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, 2010. 52p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 118416 Keywords: DNA FingerprintingJudicial ErrorWrongful ConvictionsWrongful Imprisonment |
Author: Innocence Project Title: Making Up for Lost Time: What the Wrongfully Convicted Endure and How to Provide Fair Compensation Summary: This report shows that of the more than 240 people exonerated through DNA testing nationwide, 40% have not received any form of assistance after their release. Among those who have been compensated under state laws, the vast majority received very small amounts of money and no social services. While exonerees are stripped of their property, jobs, freedom and reputation, only 10 states include provisions for services within their compensation laws. The report underlines how each state should immediately provide the compassionate assistance necessary for exonerees to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives. It details the specific obstacles that exonerees face, the lack of support they currently receive and how compensation statutes in many states have not done justice to the wrongfully convicted. It also presents solutions to these shortcomings and gives examples of how exonerees have used state compensation to find housing and meet other urgent needs, nurture talents, find success and get their bearings in the free world. Details: New York: Innocence Project, Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law, Yeshiva University, 2010. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 3, 2010 at: http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/Innocence_Project_Compensation_Report.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/Innocence_Project_Compensation_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 119738 Keywords: False ImprisonmentJudicial ErrorWrongful Convictions |
Author: Bandes, Susan Title: After Innocence: Framing Wrongful Convictions Summary: Concern over wrongful convictions has led to an innocence movement that has managed to bridge ideological divides, rouse the public to action, and achieve unprecedented success in reforming the operation of the death penalty. This movement is now at a critical juncture. Exonerations based on DNA evidence are beginning to decline, and the public's attention is beginning to stray. Yet there is an enormous amount of work left to be done. In this short essay, written as part of the symposium Beyond Biology: Wrongful Convictions in a Post-DNA World, I explore the debate over the content of the category wrongful convictions. The definition of persons who should be considered wrongfully convicted is hotly contested by both supporters and opponents of capital punishment. Delineating the category also raises another highly controversial issue: how to characterize the governmental conduct that leads to these miscarriages of justice. I consider whether it remains helpful to organize our thinking about injustice in capital cases around the notion of wrongful convictions. Does framing the problem in this way help or hinder the larger debate about what is wrong with the death penalty and how to fix it? I suggest that though we should learn from the successes of the wrongful convictions movement, we need to look beyond innocence and find ways to evoke outrage at a broader spectrum of injustice. I also explore a conundrum about framing police and prosecutorial misconduct. Although it is sometimes essential to identify and condemn intentional misconduct, the focus on malice and intent can be ineffective and even counterproductive. The challenge is to find ways to communicate concern for more than just the innocent, and to communicate the dangers of systemic governmental misconduct that defies traditional definitions of blameworthiness. As we consider the evolving shape of the death penalty reform effort, we should explore why certain ways of framing injustice have so much power. Details: Chicago: University of Chicago, Law School, 2008. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: John M. Olin Law & Economics Working Paper No. 379 (2d Series); Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper NO. 201: Accessed October 29, 2011 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1034472 Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1034472 Shelf Number: 123170 Keywords: Capital PunishmentPolice MisconductWrongful Convictions |
Author: Roman, John Title: Post-Conviction DNA Testing and Wrongful Conviction Summary: This study analyzed the results of new DNA testing of old physical evidence from 634 sexual assault and homicide cases that took place in Virginia between 1973 and 1987 in the first study of the effects of DNA testing on wrongful conviction in a large and approximately random sample of serious crime convictions. The study found that in five percent of homicide and sexual assault cases DNA testing eliminated the convicted offender as the source of incriminating physical evidence. When sexual assault convictions were isolated, DNA testing eliminated between 8 and 15 percent of convicted offenders and supported exoneration. Past estimates generally put the rate of wrongful conviction at or less than three percent. Details: Washington, DC: Urban Institute, Justice Policy Center, 2012. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 2, 2012 at: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/mgmedia/file/796/urban-institute-report/ Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/mgmedia/file/796/urban-institute-report/ Shelf Number: 125445 Keywords: DNA Typing (U.S.)HomicidesSex CrimesSexual AssaultWrongful Convictions |
Author: West, Emily M. Title: Court Findings of Prosecutorial Misconduct Claims in Post-Conviction Appeals and Civil Suits Among the First 255 DNA Exoneration Cases Summary: Prosecutorial misconduct remains a largely underdeveloped research issue in large part because of the challenges of defining what constitutes misconduct, but also because some misconduct never comes to light. For example, it is impossible to know the extent to which prosecutors engage in misconduct, especially if it involves suppressing potentially exculpatory evidence that never gets disclosed at trial. DNA exoneration cases offer a unique perspective on this issue, given that we know the clients in these cases were convicted of crimes they did not commit. As such, while courts differentiate between harmless and harmful error, we know now that what was deemed as harmless error in these appeals may have contributed to the wrongful convictions. Results from this study indicate that of the 65 DNA exoneration cases involving documented appeals and/or civil suits addressing prosecutorial misconduct, 31 (48%) resulted in court findings of error, with 18% of findings leading to reversals (harmful error). It is difficult to place these court error rates in perspective—first, because these rates are based solely on documented appeals, providing an incomplete picture of the total number of appeals in these cases and their outcomes. Second, these cases are unrepresentative of the larger offender population, making up those who were mainly convicted in the 1980s, for violent crimes, sentenced to long prison terms, and dispersed throughout the nation. While a few studies have looked at outcomes in appeals alleging prosecutorial misconduct, most have been limited to specific regions or to a subset of conviction types. While not a perfect comparison, there has been one large, nationwide study, by the Center of Public Integrity on prosecutorial misconduct which found that among all 11,452 documented appeals alleging some type of prosecutorial misconduct between 1970 and 2002, 2,012 appeals led to reversals or remanded indictments, indicating harmful error—a rate of 17.6%. This is nearly identical to the rate of harmful error findings in the DNA exoneration cases of 18%. This may suggest that innocent persons raising claims of misconduct on appeal are not much more likely to find relief than presumed guilty persons raising similar claims—a suggestion that raises questions about the ability of the appellate process to correct wrongful convictions. In fact, an earlier study of the first 200 DNA exonerees found that reversal rates for the DNA exoneree cases were the same when compared to a matched sample of criminal cases with similar characteristics, where innocence had not been established. Details: New York: Innocence Project, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, 2010. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 30, 2012 at http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/Innocence_Project_Pros_Misconduct.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/Innocence_Project_Pros_Misconduct.pdf Shelf Number: 126507 Keywords: DNA FingerprintingProsecutorial MisconductWrongful Convictions |
Author: Cribb, Chermaine Title: An Insight into the Wrongly Convicted: Going beyond the Perceptions and Beliefs of the Causes Summary: This study examined the number of wrongful convictions that were exonerated from January 1, 2004 to September 1, 2012. Four hundred forty seven exoneration cases were examined to obtain the factors that contributed to wrongful convictions, the most common offenses related to wrongful convictions, the evidence that led to a new trial, and the outcome of the exoneration based on dismissal of charges, acquittal, or pardons. Interviews were conducted to obtain exoneration case representation criteria, challenges faced in handling exonerations, and the factors found that contributed to wrongful conviction cases worked on. This study revealed that the most common offenses related to wrongful convictions were murder, sexual assault, child sex abuse, and robbery. The factors that contributed to wrongful convictions were mistaken witness identification, false confession, perjury or false accusation, false or misleading forensic evidence, official misconduct, and inadequate legal defense. The most common outcome for wrongful convictions that were exonerated from January 1, 2004 to September 1, 2012 was that the charges were dismissed and the exoneree was acquitted. Benefits of identifying the factors that have contributed to wrongful convictions can be useful in developing policies and legislation. Details: Kennesaw, GA: Kennesaw State University, 2012. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 532: Accessed January 30, 2013 at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1532&context=etd Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1532&context=etd Shelf Number: 127454 Keywords: False ImprisonmentJudicial ErrorMiscarriage of JusticeWrongful Convictions |
Author: Hartung, Stephanie Roberts Title: Missing the Forest for the Trees: Federal Habeas Corpus and the Piecemeal Problem in Actual Innocence Cases Summary: The DNA exoneration data stemming from the Innocence Movement exposes a harsh reality in our criminal justice system: existing post-conviction review procedures fail to accurately identify and remedy wrongful convictions of the innocent. While the layers of review available upon conviction are seemingly exhaustive, in fact, the factually innocent prisoner is confronted with little more than a façade of protection. At the federal habeas stage, several provisions of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act [AEDPA] operate to foreclose viable claims of innocence. Further, the federal courts entertain second or successive habeas petitions in a piecemeal fashion, if they do so at all. This “piecemeal approach” negatively impacts prisoners raising claims of factual innocence, in light of their typically pro se status and incarceration. In reviewing each successive habeas petition in isolation, without regard to previous claims, the courts often miss the forest for the trees, allowing innocent prisoners to remain in custody. This Article discusses the piecemeal problem inherent in federal habeas review procedures, provides a case illustration, and advocates for a broader reading of the “evidence as a whole” language in AEDPA’s 28 U.S.C. Section 2244(b)(2). This broader interpretation, already adopted by the Fourth Circuit, would allow courts to review a petitioner’s successive habeas claims in the aggregate, and thus, more readily identify cognizable claims of factual innocence. This Article contributes to the ongoing debate as to how the competing post-conviction interests of finality and fairness should be recalibrated in light of the DNA exoneration data brought forth by the Innocence Movement. Details: Boston: Suffolk University Law School, 2013. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Suffolk University Law School Research Paper No. 13-29: Accessed August 19, 2013 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2306202 Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2306202 Shelf Number: 129645 Keywords: Federal Habeas Corpus (U.S.)Wrongful Convictions |
Author: Gross, Samuel R. Title: Exonerations in the United States, 1989 - 2012 Summary: This report is about 873 exonerations in the United States, from January 1989 through February 2012. The 873 exonerations we analyze in this report are listed and described in the National Registry of Exonerations, which is maintained and updated on a regular basis. They are available at: exonerationregistry.org. These are not the only exonerations we know about. We also discuss a larger set: at least 1,100 convicted defendants who were cleared since 1995 in 12 "group exonerations," that occurred after it was discovered that police officers had deliberately framed dozens or hundreds of innocent defendants, mostly for drug and gun crimes.3 The group exonerations do not appear on the National Registry. We have only sketchy information about most of these cases. For some of the scandals we can only estimate the numbers of exonerated defendants and know few if any of their names. Some of these group exonerations are well known; most are comparatively obscure. We began to notice them by accident, as a by-product of searches for individual cases. We have no doubt that there have been other group exonerations in the past 23 years that we have not spotted. Details: Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Law School, National Registry of Exonerations, 2012. 108p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2014 at: http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/exonerations_us_1989_2012_full_report.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/exonerations_us_1989_2012_full_report.pdf Shelf Number: 132221 Keywords: ExonerationsFalse ImprisonmentsJudicial ErrorsMiscarriage of JusticesWrongful Convictions |
Author: U.S. National Institute of Justice Title: Mending Justice: Sentinel Event Reviews Summary: How should the criminal justice system respond to errors? A common response is to seek out "bad apples," apportion blame, and conclude that the error has been dealt with once that individual is punished or a policy is changed. But errors in a complex system are rarely the result of a single act or event. In medicine, aviation and other high-risk enterprises, serious errors are regarded as system errors or "organizational accidents." Organizational accidents are potential "sentinel events," incidents that could signal more complex flaws that threaten the integrity of the system as a whole. These other complex systems have developed sentinel event reviews - nonblaming, all-stakeholder, forward-leaning mechanisms - to go beyond disciplining rule-breakers in an effort to minimize the risk of similar errors in the future and improve overall system reliability. Mending Justice: Sentinel Event Reviews explores the potential to learn from errors in the criminal justice system by applying a sentinel event review approach. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2014. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2014 at: https://ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/247141.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/247141.pdf Shelf Number: 133185 Keywords: Criminal Justice ErrorsCriminal Justice ResearchFailed JusticeWrongful Convictions |
Author: Center for Prosecutor Integrity Title: Conviction Integrity Units: Vanguard of Criminal Justice Reform Summary: January 4, 1989 marked a watershed moment in the history of the American criminal justice system. On that day, Virginia governor Gerald L. Baliles issued a pardon for David Vasquez. Vasquez was released from prison that evening. Vasquez had been charged with the 1984 rape and murder of Carolyn Hamm, a 32-year-old lawyer. Vasquez's blood did not match the semen found on the victim's body and his shoes did not conform to the footprints found at the crime scene. Nonetheless, his disjointed confession sufficed to convince the jury to convict and sentence him to 35 years behind bars. But three years later another rape-murder occurred in the same suburban-Washington, D.C. community with details that were eerily similar to the Hamm case. Police began to wonder if a rash of previous rapes all shared a common perpetrator. Investigators tapped the newly developed, still controversial forensic technique of DNA analysis. The tests soon linked Timothy Spencer, not David Vasquez, to the series of rapes. Spencer was eventually convicted and sentenced in 1988. Six months after the release of David Vasquez, another man - Gary Dotson of Illinois - was exonerated of a crime that he did not commit. The following year, Edward Green became the beneficiary of a third DNA exoneration. More exonerations followed, compelling prosecutors, lawmakers, and the American public to question long-held beliefs about the infallibility of the criminal justice system. The Innocence Movement was born. As Innocence Projects were established across the country, the pace of exonerations accelerated. It soon became possible to identify patterns and pinpoint causes of the wrongful convictions. The National Registry of Exonerations reported that 47% of wrongful convictions could be attributed to misconduct by prosecutors and other officials. Calls for reform could no longer be ignored. One of the most promising corrections has been the establishment of post-conviction review programs, commonly referred to as Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs). Conviction Integrity Units are entities located within District Attorneys' offices that are designed to investigate claims of wrongful convictions. Many of these units have also developed policies designed to reduce future false convictions. This White Paper spotlights Conviction Integrity Units, providing an overview of their administrative and screening procedures, a compilation of their accomplishments, and a discussion on how they have sought to achieve the proper degree of administrative independence. Details: Rockville, MD: Center for Prosecutor Integrity, 2014. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: White Paper: Accessed January 21, 2015 at: http://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Conviction-Integrity-Units.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Conviction-Integrity-Units.pdf Shelf Number: 134425 Keywords: Criminal Justice ReformCriminal Prosecution (U.S.)Post-Conviction ReviewProsecutorsWrongful Convictions |
Author: University of Michigan Law School Title: Exonerations in 2015 Summary: A new report by the Registry, Exonerations in 2015, describes a record 149 exonerations last year. There were also record numbers of exonerations in homicide cases, exonerations with false confessions, exonerations of convictions based on guilty pleas, exonerations with official misconduct and exonerations with the help of prosecutorial Conviction Integrity Units. Details: Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Law School, 2016. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 5, 2016 at: http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Exonerations_in_2015.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Exonerations_in_2015.pdf Shelf Number: 137771 Keywords: ExonerationsFalse ImprisonmentsJudicial ErrorsMiscarriage of JusticesWrongful Convictions |
Author: Silbert, Rebecca Title: Criminal Injustice: A Cost Analysis of Wrongful Convictions, Errors, and Failed Prosecutions in California's Criminal Justice System Summary: This report documents mistakes, incompetence, and malfeasance in our criminal justice system. Not only are these systemic errors expensive-costing taxpayers an estimated $282 million adjusted for inflation-they also have serious and lifelong consequences on the people subject to these flawed prosecutions. The individuals in the study endured hundreds of trials, mistrials, appeals, and habeas petitions and served more than two thousand years in prison and jail, all for charges that could not be sustained. The report analyzes a dataset of 692 adult felony criminal cases in California, the majority from 2000-2012, wherein the defendant was convicted of felony or felonies, the convictions were reversed, and the charges were either dismissed or the defendant subsequently found not guilty on retrial. It examines the types of cases susceptible to error, the types of error that exist, and the direct costs of incarceration, representation, and compensation attributable to these cases and their ultimate resolution. Details: Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, 2016. 114p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 10, 2016 at: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/55f70367e4b0974cf2b82009/t/56a95c112399a3a5c87c1a7b/1453939730318/WI_Criminal_InJustice_booklet_FINAL2.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/55f70367e4b0974cf2b82009/t/56a95c112399a3a5c87c1a7b/1453939730318/WI_Criminal_InJustice_booklet_FINAL2.pdf Shelf Number: 138165 Keywords: Costs of Criminal JusticeFelony OffendersWrongful Convictions |
Author: Innocence Project Title: Prosecutorial Oversight: A National Dialogue in the Wake of Connick v. Thompson Summary: In 1984, John Thompson was wrongfully convicted of two separate crimes-a robbery and murder - in Louisiana. He was prosecuted first for the robbery, which helped prosecutors secure the death penalty in his murder case. While facing his seventh execution date in Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, a private investigator hired by his appellate attorneys discovered scientific evidence of Thompson's innocence in the robbery case that had been concealed for 15 years by the New Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office. Thompson was eventually exonerated of both crimes in 2003 after 18 years in prison-14 of them isolated on death row. The state of Louisiana gave him $10 and a bus ticket upon his release. He sued the district attorney's office. A jury awarded him $14 million-$1 million for each year on death row. When Louisiana appealed, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. On March 29, 2011, Justice Clarence Thomas issued the majority 5-4 decision in Connick v. Thompson that the prosecutor's office could not be held liable, ultimately granting prosecutors broad immunity for their misconduct. In the wake of the Court's decision, the Innocence Project, the Veritas Initiative at Santa Clara University, the Innocence Project of New Orleans and Resurrection After Exoneration formed the Prosecutorial Oversight Coalition to review the apparent lack of accountability for prosecutorial error and misconduct. On the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Connick v. Thompson, the coalition released Prosecutorial Oversight: A National Dialogue in the Wake of Connick v. Thompson, a report calling for greater transparency and accountability for prosecutors. The report details the findings of original research conducted by the coalition, in which it reviewed court findings of misconduct over a five-year period for five geographically diverse states-California, Arizona, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York- and documented 660 findings of misconduct - a likely undercount given the difficulties in identifying this behavior. The report also details highlights from a series of forums that the coalition convened in the same five states where it conducted research, to bring together panelists from all aspects of the criminal justice system to spark a meaningful dialogue about the problem and to suggest recommendations for systems that would promote greater accountability. Participants included current and former prosecutors, ethics professors, members of state bar disciplinary committees, exonerated people, defense lawyers and judges. The forum discussions greatly informed the recommendations in the report, which are targeted to the various stakeholders, including prosecutors, courts, state lawmakers and state bar oversight entities. Details: New York: Innocence Project, 2016. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 31, 2016 at: http://www.innocenceproject.org/news-events-exonerations/prosecutorial-oversight-report Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.innocenceproject.org/news-events-exonerations/prosecutorial-oversight-report Shelf Number: 138505 Keywords: Prosecutorial MisconductProsecutorsWrongful Convictions |
Author: Heaton, Paul Title: The Downstream Consequences of Misdemeanor Pretrial Detention Summary: In misdemeanor cases, pretrial detention poses a particular problem because it may induce otherwise innocent defendants to plead guilty in order to exit jail, potentially creating widespread error in case adjudication. While practitioners have long recognized this possibility, empirical evidence on the downstream impacts of pretrial detention on misdemeanor defendants and their cases remains limited. This Article uses detailed data on hundreds of thousands of misdemeanor cases resolved in Harris County, Texas - the third largest county in the U.S. - to measure the effects of pretrial detention on case outcomes and future crime. We find that detained defendants are 25% more likely than similarly situated releases to plead guilty, 43% more likely to be sentenced to jail, and receive jail sentences that are more than twice as long on average. Furthermore, those detained pretrial are more likely to commit future crime, suggesting that detention may have a criminogenic effect. These differences persist even after fully controlling for the initial bail amount as well as detailed offense, demographic, and criminal history characteristics. Use of more limited sets of controls, as in prior research, overstates the adverse impacts of detention. A quasi-experimental analysis based upon case timing confirms that these differences likely reflect the casual effect of detention. These results raise important constitutional questions, and suggest that Harris County could save millions of dollars a year, increase public safety, and reduce wrongful convictions with better pretrial release policy. Details: Philadelphia: Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, 2016. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2809840 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2809840 Shelf Number: 139791 Keywords: BailGuilty PleasPretrial DetentionRecidivismWrongful Convictions |
Author: Hollway, John Title: A Systems Approach to Error Reduction in Criminal Justice Summary: How can the criminal justice system reduce errors and improve the integrity of criminal convictions? This question framed a November, 2013 Dialogue organized by the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, federal and local law enforcement and judges, and researchers and academics assembled for a day-long discussion about enhancing the integrity of the criminal justice system, including the use of a collaborative "systems approach" to quality improvement. The systems approach has reduced errors in a variety of complex, high-risk industries, including health care, aviation, and manufacturing, among others. Such an approach targets the system for improvement rather than specific individuals within the system. The systems approach seeks to provide an environment that maximizes each participant's ability to act effectively and efficiently. It prizes a non-punitive culture of disclosure to identify errors, gathers and applies data to understand the causes of the error, and tests systems changes to prevent future errors. This focus on system improvement, rather than on individual punishment or blame, unites all participants around objective criteria and allows each participant to do his or her job more efficiently, accurately and safely. The Quattrone Center seeks to apply this systems approach to criminal justice through a series of data-driven collaborations among researchers and practitioners. Its November Dialogue sought to explore the enthusiasm for this approach among practitioners and researchers, and to inform the future strategic direction of the Center. This document highlights the main themes and issues raised during the Dialogue, particularly methods that the Quattrone Center can use to help identify sources of error in the investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of crime, and ultimately contribute to the elimination of these errors. Details: Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Law School - Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, 2014. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 23, 2016 at: http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1975&context=faculty_scholarship Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1975&context=faculty_scholarship Shelf Number: 139811 Keywords: False Convictions Prosecutions Wrongful Convictions |
Author: Fair Punishment Project Title: Too Broken to Fix: Part 1. An In-depth Look at America's Outlier Death Penalty Counties Summary: This report offers an in-depth look at how the death penalty is operating in the small handful of counties across the country that are still using it. Of the 3,143 county or county equivalents in the United States, only 16 - or one half of one percent - imposed five or more death sentences between 2010 and 2015. Part I of the report, titled Too Broken to Fix: An In-depth Look at America's Outlier Death Penalty Counties, examined 10 years of court opinions and records from eight of these 16 "outlier counties," including Caddo Parish (LA), Clark (NV), Duval (FL), Harris (TX), Maricopa (AZ), Mobile (AL), Kern (CA) and Riverside (CA). The report also analyzed all of the new death sentences handed down in these counties since 2010. The report notes that these "outlier counties" are plagued by persistent problems of overzealous prosecutors, ineffective defense lawyers, and racial bias. Researchers found that the impact of these systemic problems included the conviction of innocent people, and the excessively harsh punishment of people with significant impairments. The report notes that many of the defendants appear to have one or more impairments that are on par with, or worse than, those that the U.S. Supreme Court has said should categorically exempt individuals from execution due to lessened culpability. The Court previously found that individuals with intellectual disabilities (Atkins v. Virginia, 2002) and juveniles under the age of 18 (Roper v. Simmons, 2005) should not be subject to the death penalty under the Eighth Amendment. In conducting its analysis, the we reviewed more than 200 direct appeals opinions handed down between 2006 and 2015 in these eight counties. We found: - Sixty percent of cases involved defendants with significant mental impairments or other forms of mitigation. - Eighteen percent of cases involved a defendant who was under the age of 21 at the time of the offense. In Riverside County, 16 percent of the defendants were age 18 at the time of the offense. - Forty-four percent of cases involved a defendant who had an intellectual disability, brain damage, or severe mental illness. In four of the counties, half or more of the defendants had mental impairments: Maricopa (62 percent), Mobile (60 percent), Caddo Parish (57 percent), and Kern (50 percent). - Approximately one in seven cases involved a finding of prosecutorial misconduct. Maricopa and Clark counties had misconduct in 21 percent and 47 percent of cases respectively. - Bad lawyering was a persistent problem across all of the counties. In most of the counties, the average mitigation presentation at the penalty phase of the trial, in which the defense lawyer is supposed to present all of the evidence showing that the defendant's life should be spared - including testimony from mental health and other experts, lasted approximately one day. While this is just one data point for determining the quality of legal representation, this finding reveals appalling inadequacies. In Duval County, Florida, the entire penalty phase of the trial and the jury verdict often came in the same day. - A relatively small group of defense lawyers represented a substantial number of the individuals who ended up on death row. In Kern County, one lawyer represented half of the individuals who ended up on death row between 2010 and 2015. Additional findings: - Five of the eight counties had at least one person exonerated from death row since 1976. Harris County has had three death row exonerations, and Maricopa has had five. - Out of all of the death sentences obtained in these counties between 2010 and 2015, 41 percent were given to African-American defendants, and 69 percent were given to people of color. In Duval, 87 percent of defendants were Black in this period. In Harris, 100 percent of the defendants who were newly sentenced to death since November 2004 have been people of color. - The race of the victim is also a significant factor in who is sentenced to death in many of these counties. In Mobile County, 67 percent of the Black defendants, and 88% of all defendants, who were sentenced to death were convicted of killing white victims. In Clark County, 71 percent of all of the victims were white in cases resulting in a death sentence. The report noted just three white defendants sentenced to death for killing Black victims between 2010 and 2015. One of those cases was from Riverside, and in that case the defendant was also convicted of killing two additional white victims. The two other cases were from Duval. - Five of the 16 "outlier counties" are from Florida and Alabama, the only two states that currently allow non-unanimous jury verdicts. In Duval, 88 percent of the decisions in the review period were non-unanimous, and in Mobile the figure was 80 percent. Details: s.l.: Fair Punishment Project, 2016. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 27, 2016 at: http://fairpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FPP-TooBroken.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://fairpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FPP-TooBroken.pdf Shelf Number: 140054 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyProsecutorsRacial DisparitiesSentencingWrongful Convictions |
Author: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Title: Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends and Perspectives Summary: Today, more than four out of five countries have either abolished the death penalty or do not practice it. Globally, there is a firm trend towards abolition, with progress in all regions of the world. Member States representing a variety of legal systems, traditions, cultures and religious backgrounds have taken a position in favour of abolition of the death penalty. Some States that opposed the abolition of the death penalty in the recent past have moved to abolish it; others have imposed a moratorium on its use. The application of the death penalty appears to be confined to an ever-narrowing minority of countries. Those remaining States cite a number of reasons for retaining the death penalty, including what they see as its deterrent effect; that it is consistent with public opinion; that it is equally applied against all perpetrators; and that there are sufficient judicial safeguards to ensure defendants are not wrongfully convicted. Over the past two years, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has convened a series of important panel discussions on the death penalty, seeking to address these issues. The events drew on the experiences of government officials, academic experts and civil society from various regions which, in recent years, have made progress towards abolition or the imposition of a moratorium. They covered key aspects of the issue, including data on wrongful convictions and the disproportionate targeting of marginalized groups of people. This publication brings together the contributions of the panel members as well as other experts on this subject. Taken as a whole, they make a compelling case for moving away from the death penalty Details: New York: UN, 2014. 109p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 3, 2016 at: http://www.ohchr.org/Lists/MeetingsNY/Attachments/52/Moving-Away-from-the-Death-Penalty.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://www.ohchr.org/Lists/MeetingsNY/Attachments/52/Moving-Away-from-the-Death-Penalty.pdf Shelf Number: 144996 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyHuman Rights AbusesWrongful Convictions |
Author: Smalarz, Laura Title: Pre-Feedback Eyewitness Statements: Proposed safeguard against feedback effects on evaluations of eyewitness testimony Summary: Mistaken but highly confident eyewitness testimony has been used to convict innocent people in more than 220 criminal cases in the United States. Research has shown that confirming post-identification feedback (e.g., "Good job, you identified the suspect") commonly given to eyewitnesses might be partially to blame for these wrongful convictions because it inflates eyewitnesses' reports of their confidence and other testimony-relevant eyewitness reports (Steblay, Wells, & Douglass, 2014). Indeed, recent work has shown that confirming feedback given to eyewitnesses at the time of the identification ultimately impairs the abilities of evaluators to discern whether an eyewitness made an accurate or a mistaken identification (Smalarz & Wells, 2014). The present research sought to test a novel safeguard for protecting against and correcting for the effects of confirming feedback on evaluations of eyewitness testimony: the pre-feedback eyewitness statements safeguard. Some eyewitnesses, but not others, were asked a series of testimony-relevant questions about the witnessed event and their identification decision prior to receiving confirming feedback or no feedback. These pre-feedback eyewitness statements were videotaped and were later shown to some evaluators, but not others, as the evaluators made judgments about the accuracy of eyewitnesses' testimonies. The videotaped pre-feedback statements safeguard did not appear to protect against or correct for the effects of feedback on evaluations of eyewitness testimony. Importantly, however, a number of unexpected findings emerged in the current work that have the potential to advance our understanding of how post-identification feedback influences eyewitnesses. Future directions in light of these findings are discussed. Details: Ames, IA: Iowa State University, 2015. 90p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 3, 2017 at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5478&context=etd Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5478&context=etd Shelf Number: 145892 Keywords: Eyewitness TestimonyEyewitnessesWrongful Convictions |
Author: Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission Title: The Report of the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission Summary: The Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission (Commission) came together shortly after the state of Oklahoma imposed a moratorium on the execution of condemned inmates. In late 2015, Oklahoma executions were put on hold while a grand jury investigated disturbing problems involving recent executions, including departures from the execution protocols of the Department of Corrections. The report of the grand jury, released in May of 2016, was highly critical and exposed a number of deeply troubling failures in the final stages of Oklahoma's death penalty. The Commission has spent over a year studying all aspects of the Oklahoma death penalty system, from arrest to execution, and even examined the costs of the system to taxpayers. The Commission was grateful to hear from those with direct knowledge of how the system operates-including law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, families of murdered victims, and the families of those wrongfully convicted. In light of the extensive information gathered from this year-long, in-depth study, the Commission members unanimously recommend that the current moratorium on the death penalty be extended. The Commission did not come to this decision lightly. While some Commission members had disagreements with some of the recommendations contained in this report, there was consensus on each of the recommendations. Due to the volume and seriousness of the laws in Oklahoma's capital punishment system, Commission members recommend that the moratorium on executions be extended until significant reforms are accomplished. Many of the findings of the Commission's year-long investigation were disturbing and led Commission members to question whether the death penalty can be administered in a way that ensures no innocent person is put to death. Commission members agreed that, at a minimum, those who are sentenced to death should receive this sentence only after a fair and impartial process that ensures they deserve the ultimate penalty of death. To be sure, the United States Supreme Court has emphasized that the death penalty should be applied only to "the worst of the worst." Unfortunately, a review of the evidence demonstrates that the death penalty, even in Oklahoma, has not always been imposed and carried out fairly, consistently, and humanely, as required by the federal and state constitutions. These shortcomings have severe consequences for the accused and their families, for victims and their families, and for all citizens of Oklahoma. Many Oklahomans support the availability of the death penalty, as evidenced by the vote in favor of State Question 776 in the November 2016 election. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that innocent people have been sentenced to death in Oklahoma. And the burden of wrongful convictions alone requires the systemic corrections recommended in this report. This report is designed to highlight issues giving rise to urgent questions about the manner in which the death penalty is imposed and carried out in Oklahoma. The Commission hopes this report will help foster an informed discussion among all Oklahomans about whether the death penalty in our state can be implemented in a way that eliminates the unacceptable risk of executing the innocent, as well as the unacceptable risks of inconsistent, discriminatory, and inhumane application of the death penalty. The Commission encourages the Oklahoma Legislature, executive branch, and judiciary to take actions to address the systemic laws in Oklahoma's death penalty system. In submitting these recommendations, we adhere faithfully to important Oklahoma values and aspirations of innocence protection, procedural fairness, and justice for all. Details: Oklahoma City: The Commission, 2017. 294p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2017 at: http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/enidnews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/97/c97b1666-29e5-11e7-9361-fbc9125d6693/58ff96d3b9524.pdf.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/enidnews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/97/c97b1666-29e5-11e7-9361-fbc9125d6693/58ff96d3b9524.pdf.pdf Shelf Number: 145246 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyWrongful Convictions |
Author: Mungan, Murat C. Title: Optimal Preventive Law Enforcement and Intervention Standards with Endogenous Non-Preventive Law Enforcement Probabilities Summary: I propose a simple model of law enforcement where offenders can be prevented from completing their offenses ex-ante or may be caught and punished subsequent to completing their offenses. The former method of law enforcement increases social welfare by preventing the infliction of criminal harm, but produces inconvenience costs to the general public, because it requires interfering with the acts of innocents as well as attempters. The magnitude of these inconvenience costs, and therefore the optimal frequency with which preventive enforcement ought to be used, depend on the responsiveness of potential criminals to punishment; the proportion of potential criminals in the population; the intervention techniques employed; and the harm from crime. I also show that weak intervention standards can be used in conjunction with more frequent monitoring to increase the frequency of prevention, and that these two methods are complements. These observations provide rationales for why preventive enforcement sometimes takes place through random (or suspicionless) interventions, and in other cases through stops based on reasonable suspicion. Details: Tallahassee: Florida State University, 2016. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: FSU College of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 701: Accessed May 10, 2017 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2481367 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2481367 Shelf Number: 145398 Keywords: DeterrenceJudicial ErrorWrongful Convictions |
Author: Dusek, Libor Title: The Trade-offs of Justice: A Theory of the Optimal Use of Alternative Criminal Procedures Summary: Criminal cases can be adjudicated via court trials or alternative criminal procedures, such as plea bargaining and penal order. We develop a model of optimal allocation of cases across these alternatives based on offense severity and available evidence. The model predicts that the evidence standards - and thus the number of wrongful convictions and wrongful acquittals - fundamentally depend upon the cost structure of the criminal process as well as on the budget resources allocated to the criminal justice system. We call this phenomenon the marginal cost of justice. Our model offers explanations why the scope of plea bargaining in the United States has been traditionally broader than the scope of alternative procedures in Europe and why their use in Europe has recently expanded. Details: Working paper, 2016. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 17, 2017 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2812559 Year: 2016 Country: Europe URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2812559 Shelf Number: 145557 Keywords: Criminal Procedure Plea Bargaining Wrongful Convictions |
Author: Cousino, Meghan Title: Exonerations in the United States Before 1989 Summary: The National Registry of Exonerations searches for, investigates, and reports every exoneration in the United States that we can find that occurred after the beginning of 1989. This year we have added stories and data about 369 earlier exonerations, from 1820 through 1988. We will continue to add such cases, but will not attempt to locate every possible exoneration from before 1989. Our pre-1989 database is different from the Registry itself in two important respects: (i) The list of cases is less complete and less representative of all exonerations in its time period than our list of 2,180 exonerations since 1989, and (ii) We have less information on exonerations before 1989. Both differences reflect the difficulty of studying cases that are more than 30 years old. Almost all the pre-1989 exonerations occurred in the twentieth century, most of them since 1950. Some of them are historically important cases that had substantial impacts on criminal justice policy, including the "Scottsboro Boys" exonerations (starting in 1937), and the exonerations of Clarence Gideon in 1963 and George Whitmore, Jr. in 1973. In many respects, the pre-1989 exonerations are similar to those that happened later. There are, however, several differences, including: - The pre-1989 exonerees we list were cleared more quickly than those who were exonerated later, 5.9 years after conviction on average, compared to 10.5 years. - More exonerations before 1989 were homicide cases-60% compared to 40% for those since 1989-mostly because of a large difference for homicides that resulted in death sentences, 21% to 6%. - Many fewer of the pre-1989 exonerations were for sexual assaults (8% vs. 26%), probably because DNA technology was not available to identify the true criminals, and more of the pre-1989 exonerations were for robberies (18% to 5%). - We know of no drug crime exonerations before 1989 and very few exonerations for child sex abuse, possibly because there were far fewer prosecutions for those crimes; on the other hand, there were more exonerations for forgery and counterfeiting. - Fewer exonerations before 1989 were for convictions known to be tainted by official misconduct, 34% compared to 52% for exonerations since 1989. Details: Irvine, CA: National Registry of Exonerations, University of California, Irvine, 2018. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2018 at: https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/ExonerationsBefore1989.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/ExonerationsBefore1989.pdf Shelf Number: 149493 Keywords: ExonerationsFalse ImprisonmentJudicial ErrorMiscarriage of JusticeWrongful Convictions |
Author: National Registry of Exonerations Title: Exonerations in 2017 Summary: The National Registry of Exonerations has recorded 139 exonerations in 2017. In total, the National Registry of Exonerations has recorded 2,161 exonerations in the United States from 1989 through the end of 2017. - Ninety-eight of the exonerations in 2017 involved Violent Felonies, including 51 homicides, 16 child sex abuse convictions, and 13 sexual assaults of adults. Four of the homicide exonerees had been sentenced to death; - Sixteen exonerations in 2017 involved Drug Crimes; - Seventeen 2017 exonerations were based in whole or in part on DNA evidence; - Sixty-six exonerations were cases in which No Crime was actually committed; - Eighty-four cases included Misconduct by Government Officials; - Thirty-six exonerations were for convictions based on Guilty Pleas; - Thirty-seven cases involved Mistaken Eyewitness Identification; - Twenty-nine cases involved a False Confession; - Eighty-seven cases included Perjury or a False Accusation; and - Eighty exonerations in 2017 were the result of work by prosecutorial Conviction Integrity Units or Innocence Organizations, or both. In addition, in 2017, there were at least 96 individuals whose convictions were vacated and charges dismissed as part of group exonerations in Chicago, and 80 or more in Baltimore. Details: Irvine, CA: National Registry of Exonerations, University of California, Irvine, 2018. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2018 at: http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/ExonerationsIn2017.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/ExonerationsIn2017.pdf Shelf Number: 149494 Keywords: ExonerationsFalse ImprisonmentJudicial ErrorMiscarriage of JusticeWrongful Convictions |
Author: Center for Death Penalty Litigation Title: On Trial for Their Lives: The Hidden Costs of Wrongful Capital Prosecutions in North Carolina Summary: Prosecutors and lawmakers insist that the death penalty is necessary to punish "the worst of the worst," in cases where evidence of the defendant's guilt is overwhelming and the circumstances of the crime are more heinous than most. Yet, the reality is that the death penalty in North Carolina is used indiscriminately and with little regard for the strength of the evidence. While police and prosecutors may not intend to convict the innocent, they often face enormous pressure to solve and prosecute crimes. In that environment, they rely on the threat of the death penalty to solicit information and confessions from suspects, or to pressure suspects to accept plea bargains. The frequency with which state officials use the death penalty in this manner makes it inevitable that innocent people get caught up in the capital punishment system. For the first time in North Carolina, the Center for Death Penalty Litigation (CDPL) has conducted a study of cases in which people were accused of capital murder but never convicted, which we refer to in this report as wrongful capital prosecutions. We wanted to explore why people were prosecuted capitally when the state did not have enough evidence to convict, as well as determine the harm caused by such cases. This group of people has been largely ignored, even as North Carolina has seen several high-profile exonerations of death row inmates. There is no registry that tracks the cases of those wrongly charged with capital murder, and no group that advocates for them. We know of no other study in the United States that has asked these questions or tracked this group. We pored over case files, court records and news reports, contacted attorneys, and interviewed the accused to find cases during the period from 1989 to 2015 in which a person was charged with capital murder and was eventually acquitted or had all charges related to the crimes dismissed. We identified 56 cases in which the state abused its power in seeking a death sentence, because prosecutors did not have enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty. This means that over the past 26 years, an average of two people each year have been targeted for the death penalty even though there was very little evidence of guilt, let alone evidence that they were worthy of the state's harshest punishment. The database of cases presented in this report is reliable but not comprehensive, because there is no centralized tracking of such cases. Doubtless, there are cases we did not find. Our research uncovered the same types of errors and misconduct in these cases that have been uncovered in cases where innocents were convicted and sent to death row. We found cases in which state actors hid exculpatory evidence, relied on junk science, and pressured witnesses to implicate suspects. In several cases, there was no physical evidence and charges were based solely on the testimony of highly unreliable witnesses, such as jail inmates, co-defendants who were given lighter sentences in return for cooperation, and paid informants. Reliance on such witnesses was a factor in more than 60 percent of the cases we studied. The state incarcerated these people, who were never convicted of any crime, for an average of two years each. All told, the 56 defendants spent a total of more than 112 years in jail. Gregory Chapman in Duplin County served the longest jail term: nearly seven years. Those who are indicted on capital charges and later cleared are not eligible for compensation, even though many of them spend years in jail, lose their jobs, and are bankrupted by legal expenses. In addition to leaving many in financial ruin, the state does not even do these exonorees the favor of clearing their criminal histories. They must request a court order to expunge their criminal records, an expensive and lengthy process. Those who were already living at the margins of society often struggled to find jobs, and some fell into homelessness after they were released from jail. Details: Durham, NC: he Center for Death Penalty Litigation, 2015. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2018 at: http://www.cdpl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/INTERACTIVE-CDPL-REPORT.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.cdpl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/INTERACTIVE-CDPL-REPORT.pdf Shelf Number: 150893 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyExonerationsFalse ImprisonmentJudicial ErrorMiscarriage of JusticeWrongful Convictions |
Author: Bloom, Robert M. Title: What Jurors Should Know about Informants: The Need for Expert Testimony Summary: With the advent of DNA exonerations, the data would indicate that many individuals have been wrongly convicted. In looking at the causes of the exonerations, nearly 20 percent have involved testimony by accomplices and jailhouse informants. The questionable credibility of these individuals has long been recognized by courts and legislatures. Reforms in this area include, enhanced jury instructions, pre-trial credibility hearings, and corroboration before the testimony can be introduced. This article argues the efficacy of expert testimony to further assist jurors in measuring the credibility of these witnesses. Although the use of experts has largely been disfavored by courts, there has been a gradual movement to use experts for eyewitness identifications, the major cause of exonerations. The article proposes a similar movement for informant testimony. Details: Boston, MA: Boston College Law School, 2018. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 9, 2019 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3288636 Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3288636 Shelf Number: 154059 Keywords: DNA Exonerations Exonerations Expert Testimony Eyewitness Identifications Informant Testimony Wrongful Convictions |