How many guilty people get away

Causes Exonerations tell us a lot about what causes wrongful convictions. Official Indifference A major factor in wrongful convictions is official indifference to innocence and error. Related Resources. The National Registry of Exonerations An authoritative national database of innocence cases.

What if It Wasn't Science? The Nation. The New York Times Magazine. Featured Work EJI confronts official indifference to innocence by challenging wrongful convictions in court, advocating for broader access to DNA testing, and supporting the creation of Conviction Integrity Units to prevent, identify, and correct false convictions.

Challenging Wrongful Convictions Ms. Raising Innocence in Death Penalty Cases Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit because of racial bias, inadequate counsel, and prosecutorial indifference to innocence. False confessions.

Most jurors find it impossible to believe that a suspect would confess to a serious crime he didn't commit. Yet the average citizen, if taken to a basement room and subjected to 10 consecutive hours of abusive interrogation tactics by experienced cops, might be surprised at what they would say. Of the people who were exonerated by DNA evidence between to , about 25 percent gave bogus confessions after lengthy interrogations.

Almost every one recanted soon after. Faulty eyewitness identification. More often than not, those who witness violent acts have trouble accurately recalling the facts and identifying those involved.

Physical and photo lineups may exacerbate the problem because police manipulate them to focus suspicion on favored suspects. Jailhouse snitches. In every jail there is a career criminal staring at a long sentence. For leniency, he can be persuaded to lie to the jury and describe in great detail the confession overheard from the accused, usually a cellmate.

If he performs well enough on the stand, the authorities might allow him to walk free. Bad lawyering. Those accused of serious crimes rarely have money. Many are represented by good public defenders, but too many get stuck with court-appointed lawyers with little or no experience.

Capital cases are complex, and the stakes are enormous. All too often, the defense lawyers are in over their heads. Back to the Table of Contents. Live Now. Blackstone's Ratio: Is it more important to protect innocence or punish guilt? When crimes occur, societies often cannot know for certain if a suspect is guilty or innocent.

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