Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
what's your best estimate of the error rate?
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I have yet to see reliable statistics on the percent of people who have been wrongfully convicted and most of the studies focus on death penalty cases (as if a life sentence for a wronful conviction isn't as hellish as the death penalty) but
mistaken I.D.'s seem to be the bulk of mistaken convictions.
Interesting break down of stats:
Statistics from Actual Innocence
By Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld and Jim Dwyer, Doubleday, 2000
Factors Leading to Wrongful Convictions in 62 U.S. Cases
* DNA Inclusions: 1
* Other Forensic Inclusions: 5
* False Confessions: 15
* Informants/Snitches: 15
* False Witness Testimony: 15
* Bad Lawyering: 17
* Microscopic Hair Comparison: 18
* Defective or Fraudulent Science: 21
* Prosecutorial Misconduct: 26
* Police Misconduct: 26
* Serology Inclusion: 32
* Mistaken ID: 52
Mistaken Identity - Race and Misidentification
* Latino Misidentifying African American Defendant: 0%
* Caucasian Misidentifying Latino Defendant: 1%
* Latino Misidentifying Latino Defendant: 3%
* Race of Witness or Defendant Unknown: 9%
* African American Misidentifying African American Defendant: 24%
* Caucasian Misidentifying Caucasian Defendant: 28%
* Caucasian Misidentifying African American Defendant: 35%
Number of Mistaken Witnesses per Case
* 5 Witnesses: 1
* 4 Witnesses: 1
* 3 Witnesses: 2
* 2 Witnesses: 14
* 1 Witness: 34
Prosecutorial Misconduct
* Evidence Fabrication: 3%
* Other Misconduct: 3%
* False Statements to Jury: 8%
* Improper Closing Arguments: 8%
* Coerced Witnesses: 13%
* Knowing Use of False Testimony: 22%
* Suppression of Exculpatory Evidence: 43%
Police Misconduct
* Other Misconduct: 4%
* Evidence Fabrication: 9%
* Coerced Confession/Admission Alleged: 9%
* Allegation of Undue Suggestiveness in Pretrial ID Procedures: 33%
* Suppression of Exculpatory Evidence: 36%
Race of Victim in Wrongful Conviction Cases
* Native American: 1%
* Asian American: 1%
* Latino: 4%
* Unknown: 4%
* African American: 21%
* Caucasian: 69%
Race of Exonerated Defendant in Wrongful Conviction Cases
* Native American: 0%
* Asian American: 0%
* Unknown: 3%
* Latino: 11%
* Caucasian: 29%
* African American: 57%
And to investigate what's behind a wrongful conviction,
innocence commissions wouldn't be a bad start. Why shouldn't our taxpayer's money go towards finding out who fucked up and put a guy in jail for 18 years especially since we're the ones (People versus) who convicted the guy. I wouldn't mind having the entire process of line-ups and witness I.D.'s videotaped in case they are needed later (to see what kind of coercion happened) but then again I think people should be videotaping cops at all times. I read somewhere the ACLU was handing out video cams to residents of some city where cops were always hassling the people. I fucking hate cops.
