The Innocence Project this week pointed out that “far too may innocent people have been wrongly convicted as a result of prosecutorial misconduct.” They cite data from a survey that looked at five diverse states over a five-year period, identifying 660 in which the courts found prosecutorial misconduct – only one of these prosecutors was disciplined.
Meanwhile, Washington Post contributor Radley Balko reported yesterday that the “National Registry of Exonerations (NRE) will soon publish the second part of a study it commissioned of its database of all known false convictions in the United States since 1989.”
In advanced data, Mr. Balko reports, “The 2,265 exonerees in the NRE database served a combined 20,080 years behind bars.”
A forthcoming law review article by George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Gutman looked at compensation for the wrongly convicted. “Between lawsuits and state statutes that award fixed compensation for wrongful convictions, state and municipal governments have paid out $2.2 billion to exonerees.”
Mr. Balko points out, “Of course, this is nowhere near the total cost of wrongful convictions. To calculate that, you’d need to look at how much it costs to investigate, convict and imprison the wrong person; the effects the wrongful conviction had on that person, his or her family, and his or her community; and any crimes the real culprit committed after authorities apprehended the wrong 
suspect.”
Moreover, “More than half the exonerees in the database have never been compensated.”
California, while not exactly leading the way on best practices, can at least move forward with SB 923, sponsored by San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener, which would ensure that law enforcement agencies throughout the state adhere to evidence-based standards that protect against mistaken eyewitness identifications.
The bill was recently passed by the State Assembly and awaits the governor’s signature.
Proponents of the bill argue, “Since 1991, 66 Californians have been wrongly convicted and imprisoned because an eyewitness misidentified them. Nationwide, mistaken eyewitness identification played a role in over 70 percent of convictions that were later overturned by DNA testing.”
Jennifer Thompson is the best-selling author of a memoir detailing her story incorrectly identifying her rapist, which sent an innocent man to prison for 11 years. Her experience has led her to advocate for SB 923 and strengthening eyewitness standards.
After Ms. Thompson wrongfully identified her assaulter, the defendant was sent to prison for 11 years before he was exonerated. The man who assaulted Jennifer remained free until he was convicted of a separate assault on another woman, and was later through DNA evidence found to be Jennifer’s assaulter.
Interestingly enough, Ms. Thompson and the man she wrongfully identified now work together to share their story and advocate for reform.
“When a wrongful conviction happens there are many harmed, from the original victims and their families to the exonerated and their loved ones,” said Jennifer Thompson at a recent hearing before the State Senate. “But we also must remember that the system failed to protect the community by allowing actual perpetrators to remain free to commit more crimes. This bill will help ensure that victims are given true justice, innocent people remain free, and violent criminals are held accountable”
“Our justice system should be based on best practices that allow our law enforcement officials to do their jobs and the public to have the confidence that we are keeping our communities safe,” said Senator Scott Wiener.
The senator added, “Our current lack of eyewitness standards can lead to wrongful convictions and the actual perpetrator of the crime remaining free. Some California counties already employ best practices that work. SB 923 ensures that, throughout California, our justice system protects innocent people, apprehends those who commit crimes, and allows public safety officials to do their jobs.”
“We’re not talking about some procedural niceties; we’re talking about taking concrete steps to keep innocent people out of prison. And every time an innocent person is jailed, the real criminal goes free, piling one injustice atop another. I’m proud to join with Senator Wiener to do something about it,” said Assemblymember Marc Levine.
SB 923 adopts evidence-based procedures that have been endorsed by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, the National Academy of the Sciences, the U.S. Department of Justice, the American Bar Association, and the International Association of Police Chiefs to improve the way in which eyewitness identifications are conducted throughout the state.
If the governor signs the law, the following core pillars under SB 923 would be required:
- Blind/Blinded Administration: Blind/blinded administration of procedures prevents suggestiveness. In a blind lineup the officer administering the procedure is unaware of the suspect’s identity. If that is not practical, a “blinded technique” can be used such as the folder shuffle method in which the suspect and filler photographs are placed in separate folders, shuffled and handed to the eyewitness one at a time.
- Eyewitness Instructions: Prior to the procedure, eyewitnesses should be instructed that the perpetrator may or may not be in the lineup.
- Proper Use of Fillers: Non-suspect “fillers” used in the lineup should match the witness’s description of the perpetrator and the suspect should not noticeably stand out.
- Confidence Statements: Immediately following the lineup procedure, the eyewitness should provide a statement, in his or her own words, that articulates the level of confidence in the identification.
- Recording: The entire identification procedure is videotaped.
While several states already have these standards in place, with New Jersey leading the way, California has a chance to at least catch up on eyewitness identification.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
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Far too many guilty people get away or get off and go crime again.
In this day of DNA evidence, etc., I think there are far fewer wrongly accused happening than the liberal social justice crusade would have us believe.
“Far too many guilty people get away or get off and go crime again.”
Irrelevant to this issue.
“In this day of DNA evidence”
Not really, very few cases have DNA evidence in them. Surprisingly few.
David – just want to drop a quick comment to say that I think you’re putting out some solid and thoughtful articles. This article, the subject of which can not be discussed often enough, Rik Keller’s the other day (Rik, I hope you’re reading. Thanks for the thoughtful article) and much your output lately, are making admirable attempts to thoughtfully analyze some very important issues at a very local level and start a conversation – not just on race, but on local housing issues, immigration, etc. I had initially thought to post this on Rik’s article or David’s article about race earlier today, but didn’t want it to get lost in the all the frantic white guy defensiveness. The rest of those thread(s) – whatever 200 comments over the last week on any article about race – don’t reflect well on the article(s) and that’s a real shame, as it would be a really valuable asset to have a place for online discussion around this and other topics in Davis and I’d really like to see that hub be the Vanguard. I’ll step away now so all the white guys can get back to talking about how racism doesn’t exist and how their personal experience trumps data and other people’s experience or “what about those white people with hard lives” or whatever other biscuit they’re going get their hands on when the circle’s complete, but please know that, at the very least, the articles are being read and enjoyed, even if not commented on.
Thanks Ross
Echoing David… thanks… for pointing out that white males are to be ignored/dismissed/derided… I respect that, as a white male… there is no white male who should opine… as you say
If I posted anything about “all the black guys” (or girls… sexist?)[or all the Asian/Hispanic/Latino/other], moderators will/would expunge my comment.. which I fully expect here… but, rest assured, your comment about “all the white guys” (racist and sexist) will live on… 99% confidence on that…
The hysterical pearl clutching is a bit much. I said nothing of the sort. You ARE a bunch of white guys and you ARE making a ton of judgements about the lived experience of others that you have no idea about. Nobody said that white guys should be “ignored/dismissed/derided”. Don’t put words in my mouth. Now, do I think that people that may make myopic judgements about things outside of their experience should be called to task? No, but maybe I should have. That’s another question, and I’d use a very different phrase than “white guy”there, white guy.