In a recent op-ed in the Albany Times Union, criminal justice expert Scott Christianson asked that state leaders consider New York’s well-documented problems with wrongful convictions before trying to fix the state’s unconstitutional death penalty statute. Christianson, a former state criminal justice official, documented more than 130 cases (most of them involving convictions since 1980), in which innocent persons were convicted (mostly of murder) and sentenced to long prison terms in New York. Experts have found that from 1 to 10 percent of those convicted of a felony in New York are actually innocent, and these proven cases are “simply the tip of the iceberg,” according to Christianson. He wrote further: “In the past, prosecutors didn’t have to worry as much that their mistakes would ever come to light. Today, however, with the advent of DNA and possibly other definitive technologies, actual innocence in some cases threatens to become positively established even after an offender has been convicted or even legally executed. … Any proven wrongful conviction can expose serious injustices and undermine respect for law enforcement.”

Among Christianson’s recommendations for addressing these concerns are reforms such as requiring a specific state agency to maintain a database of defendants who have been found wrongfully convicted and convening a blue-ribbon panel to hold public hearings and report its findings. Christianson also believes that New York should require the videotaping of police interrogations, overhaul its public defense system, and hold those involved in improperly prosecuting cases accountable for their actions. Based on the studies and data Christianson concluded, “The inevitability of error is just one reason why the death penalty is a bad idea. But it’s one that fair-minded citizens … can understand.”

(Times-Union, January 23, 2005). See Innocence.

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