There are some major flaws in our criminal justice system. These flaws result in innocent people going to prison. It is the ultimate miscarriage of justice — taking away the freedom of a factually innocent person while also allowing the guilty person to remain free.
There are a number of reasons for why innocent people get found guilty. The National Registry of Exonerations has identified six main causes:
- Perjury or False Accusation
- Inadequate Legal Defense
- False or Misleading Forensic Evidence
- Official Misconduct
- False Confession
- Mistaken Witness Identification
Official Misconduct
Out of 3,160 exonerations tracked by the The National Registry of Exonerations, 1798 or 57% listed Official Misconduct as a contributing factor in the wrongful conviction. Official Misconduct is when “Police, prosecutors, or other government officials significantly abused their authority or the judicial process in a manner that contributed to the exoneree’s conviction.” Keep in mind, these are factually innocent people who went to jail for a crime they did not commit.
Police and prosecutors are often under quite a bit of pressure to solve cases and get convictions. When they are motivated by “securing a conviction” and not “upholding justice”, this is a recipe for misconduct and injustice. Truth and fairness are sacrificed.
Common forms of POLICE misconduct include:
- Forcing the suspect to make a false confession
- Lying to jurors about their observations
- Not turning over exculpatory evidence to prosecutors
- Use of incentivized informants
Common forms of PROSECUTORIAL misconduct that exist:
- Withholding exculpatory evidence from defense
- Deliberately mishandling evidence
- Calling of false witnesses to the stand
- Pressuring defense witnesses not to testify
- Relying on fraudulent forensic experts
- Failing to disclose deals or potential deals to cooperating witnesses (snitches)
Official Misconduct Destroys Real Lives
Take the case of Ray Krone, who was sentenced to death in 1992 for a brutal murder in Arizona. The Krone case is a prominent example of government misconduct.
The night before Krone’s trial, the State prosecution informed the defense that they were prepared to show a video, which was not given to the defense. In court, the gruesome video showed a bite mark expert holding molds of Krone’s teeth next to the murdered victim’s corpse to suggest an exact match.
It was later revealed that a leading FBI bite-marks expert had told the prosecution that there is no way that Krone could have made those bite marks. The first trial was reversed on appeal because of prosecutorial misconduct. But at a second trial, Krone was convicted to death because of those same faulty bite marks. Finally in 2002 Krone was exonerated by DNA evidence that proved that he could not have been the killer. He was released after having served 10 years in prison.
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