A new comprehensive study of 200 innocence cases, all involving people who were exonerated by DNA evidence, found that erroneous identification by eyewitnesses, faulty forensic evidence, inaccurate informant testimony, and false confessions were the key problems that led to these serious mistakes. The research - which included 14 death penalty cases - also found that courts performed miserably in identifying cases of innocence, and that those exonerated were more likely to be members of minority groups.
The study, “Judging Innocence,” was conducted by University of Virginia law professor Brandon L. Garrett and its findings will be published in The Columbia Law Review this January. In “Judging Innocence,” Garrett identifies erroneous identification by eyewitnesses as the leading cause of wrongful convictions, occurring in 79% of the 200 cases he examined. In 25% of these cases, this testimony was the only direct evidence linking the defendant to the crime. Garrett found that faulty forensic evidence was present in 55% of the cases, including many cases in which prosecution experts exaggerated, made honest mistakes, or committed out-right fraud. Inaccurate informant testimony occurred in 18% of the cases, including three cases in which the informants were later identified as the person who actually committed the crime. False confessions were identified in 16% of the cases. Two-thirds of those cases involved defendants who were juveniles, mildly retarded, or both.
With regard to race, Garrett’s review revealed that 73% of those cleared of rape charges were black or Hispanic, despite the fact that these ethnic groups account for only 37% of all rape convictions. In addition, he discovered that 31 of the 200 cases in his review had appealed for relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justices refused to hear all but one of these cases, and in the one case they did hear, they ruled against the inmate who was later proven innocent.
A second study of wrongful convictions will soon by released by Samuel R. Gross of the University of Michigan and Barbara O’Brien of Michigan State. Their findings mirror many of the Garrett’s conclusions. The Michigan researchers note, “The main thing we can safely conclude from exonerations is that there are many other false convictions that we have not discovered… . In addition, a couple of strong demographic patterns appear to be reliable: black men accused of raping white women face a greater risk of false conviction than other rape defendants; and young suspects, those under 18, are at greater risk of false confession than other suspects.”
Peter Neufeld, a co-founder of the Innocence Project at Cardozo Law School, praised the review of DNA exonerations, but cautioned, “DNA testing is available in fewer than 10 percent of violent crimes… . But the same causes of wrongful convictions exist in cases with DNA evidence as in those cases that don’t.”
(New York Times, July 23, 2007). Read the article (may require subscription). See Innocence.
