Scott Christianson’s new book, Innocent: Inside Wrongful Conviction Cases, exam­ines mis­takes in New York’s crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem with an empha­sis on mis­tak­en iden­ti­fi­ca­tions, per­jury by eye­wit­ness­es, inef­fec­tive coun­sel, false con­fes­sions, and police and pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct. The book includes a log of the state’s wrong­ful con­vic­tion cas­es, includ­ing some cap­i­tal cas­es. Christianson reminds read­ers, ​“Unfortunately, not much is known about the cur­rent nature and extent of wrong­ful con­vic­tion. The state does not main­tain a mas­ter list of its mis­takes.” He does applaud state and nation­al efforts to review and improve accu­ra­cy, includ­ing pro­grams such as The Innocence Project at Cardozo Law School and North Carolina’s study to inves­ti­gate the caus­es of wrong­ful con­vic­tions. (New York University Pres, 2004). See Resources and Innocence.

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