Pennsylvania has con­vened a com­mis­sion of judges, pros­e­cu­tors, defense attor­neys, law enforce­ment offi­cers and vic­tims’ advo­cates to study the caus­es of wrong­ful con­vic­tions and make rec­om­men­da­tions for pre­vent­ing them in the state. Forensic errors, mis­tak­en eye­wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tions and false con­fes­sions have led to wrong­ful con­vic­tions around the nation, includ­ing 9 peo­ple from Pennsylvania who have been exon­er­at­ed by DNA evi­dence.

The com­mis­sion of 40 mem­bers was spon­sored by Pennsylvania State Senator Stewart Greenleaf and will be chaired by Duquesne University law pro­fes­sor John T. Rago, who heads the Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Sciene and Law. Among those on the pan­el are Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala, Jr., pub­lic defend­er Michael Machen, police com­mis­sion­er Charles Moffat, Common Pleas Senior Judge Robert E. Colville, as well as an exon­er­at­ed death row inmate, a Johnstown priest, and a rep­re­sen­ta­tive from the state attor­ney gen­er­al’s office. The com­mit­tee will review the cas­es of 198 DNA exonerees around the coun­try to iden­ti­fy the most com­mon caus­es of wrong­ful con­vic­tions. It will then issue a series of pol­i­cy change rec­om­men­da­tions that attempt to address the prob­lems they identify.

Rago, who said he hopes the review will make the state’s crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem ​“as best as human beings can,” not­ed, ​“Justice is served when a guilty per­son is con­vict­ed, but jus­tice is also served when an inno­cent per­son is exon­er­at­ed. And cer­tain­ly jus­tice is not served by con­vict­ing an inno­cent per­son.… With 2.5 mil­lion peo­ple incar­cer­at­ed in the U.S., can any­body with a straight face say that they’re all guilty? No more than you could say they’re all inno­cent.” Rago said he pro­posed the study com­mis­sion to Senator Greenleaf after hear­ing of sev­er­al exon­er­a­tions in Pennyslvania, includ­ing the release of Nicholas Yarris after he spent 21 years on Pennsylvania’s death row for a crime he did not com­mit. The com­mis­sion held its first all-day meet­ing in Harrisburg on March 29.
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 31, 2007). See Innocence.

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