Researchers Marvin Zalman, Brad Smith, and Angie Kiger of Wayne State University’s Criminal Justice Department recently published a study in the Justice Quarterly on the frequency of wrongful convictions. After a comprehensive review of the literature concerning innocence, they reported the results of their survey of Michigan police officers, prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges regarding their “estimates of the frequency of wrongful conviction.” Respondents were asked about the percentage of innocence cases among convictions in their own jurisdictions and in other jurisdictions. They compared their findings to a similar study conducted with Ohio criminal justice officials and discussed the policy implications of their findings.
(M. Zalman, et al., “Officials’ Estimates of the Incidence of ‘Actual Innocence’ Convictions,”25 Justice Quarterly 72 (March 2008)). See Innocence and Studies.
- Death Penalty Information Center (2025, March 14). STUDIES: Estimates of Wrongful Convictions by Those Involved in the System. Retrieved October 3, 2026, from https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/studies-estimates-of-wrongful-convictions-by-those-involved-in-the-system
- Death Penalty Information Center. “STUDIES: Estimates of Wrongful Convictions by Those Involved in the System.” Last modified March 14, 2025. Accessed October 3, 2026. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/studies-estimates-of-wrongful-convictions-by-those-involved-in-the-system.
- Death Penalty Information Center. “STUDIES: Estimates of Wrongful Convictions by Those Involved in the System.” Death Penalty Information Center, 14 Mar. 2025, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/studies-estimates-of-wrongful-convictions-by-those-involved-in-the-system. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.
