Wrongful Convictions
● Wrongful convictions are usually exonerated through DNA evidence
● Errors cast disrepute on the entire criminal justice system as a symbol of failure
● How do these occur? What are the effects? Who is responsible?
Miscarriages of Justice
● Effects are devastating
● Costly trials forcing them into bankruptcy
● Stigmatized by the prison experience
● Physical victimization during incarceration
● Destructive effects on marriages and family relationships
● Difficulty adjusting to new lives after exoneration
● High incidence of PTSD
Scope of the Problem
● The number of DNA exonerations has increased significantly since the first one in 1989
● Most of the exonerations were convicted of murder ot sexual assault and sentenced to
death or lengthy prison terms
● Estimates that there are errors in 2 to 5 percent and about 1 percent of all felons are
wrongfully convicted
Causes of Wrongful Convictions
● Eyewitness Misidentification
○ Primary cause for wrongful convictions
○ Regarded as most reliable method of establishing guilt or innocence
○ DNA evidence has cast considerable doubt
○ In about 70% of false convictions overturned by DNA, eyewitness
misidentification played a role in the initial conviction
● False Confessions and Incriminating Statements
○ Statements are sometimes coerced from suspects who later recant
○ Original confession has powerful effect on a judge or jury
○ Groups more at risk for making false confessions
■ Mental illness or juveniles
■ Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
■ Easily manipulated
■ Addiction problems
● Poor Forensic Science
○ Only 5 to 10 percent of serious felonies have usable biological evidence
○ No guarantee it will be tested
○ Typically takes months for routine tests to be conducted
○ People languish in custody awaiting DNA or other test results that would
exonerate them
○ Causes of ‘Junk Science’
■ Operational problems within labs
■ Evidence may be mishandled, misplaced or stolen
● Jailhouse informants
○ Often testify that they overheard the defendant admit guilt
○ Foremost source of wrongful convictions in capital cases since the 70s
○ Received less severe punishments, immunity from prosecution, or been given
cash payments, in return for testimony
● Misconduct
○ If only a fraction of these officials engage in misconduct, the resulting wrongful
convictions could be substantial
○ Dishonest or incompetent crime lab staff that juries rely on to interpret the results
of scientific analyses
○ Prosecutors under pressure to obtain conviction
■ Given considerable discretion and immunity from lawsuits
● Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
○ Representing clients while intoxicated, sleeping during trials, inadequate
representation or encouraged pleading guilty
○ Symptomatic of lack of funding
