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Wrongful convictions occur when an innocent individual is charged and sentenced for a crime they didn’t commit. This is an injustice to these individuals and a failure of the criminal justice system. The personal, emotional, and financial toll of these convictions on individuals and their families is substantial, and these wrongs must be righted. A wrongful conviction is not the end of the case, and there are options for post-conviction relief that can help families and their loved ones secure a different future.
There are many potential reasons why innocent people find themselves facing wrongful convictions, including misconduct by officers or coerced confessions of guilt.
Eyewitness testimony is often given substantial weight, but it is not entirely reliable. Most eyewitness identification requires the individual to remember the details of a crime and its perpetrator, often during a very stressful event. Memory is imperfect and can be changed due to time, suggestion, or other contamination.
Witness error can be affected by the individual’s trauma, their closeness to the scene of the crime, and the reliability of their memory. However, witness error can also be affected by how evidence is presented by police officers and how a witness lineup is set up.
Wrongful convictions frequently occur because a witness to a crime stated that an innocent individual was the perpetrator of the crime. Overturning wrongful convictions based on eyewitness misidentification requires DNA evidence.
Forensic evidence has developed significantly in the past few decades, and DNA evidence and its analysis have successfully identified criminal offenders and proved the innocence of individuals. However, not all areas of forensic science are useful or even based on fact.
Some forms of forensic science have been used to convict individuals despite having little to no scientific evaluation. Areas like bite mark analysis, hair microscopy comparisons, fingerprint analysis, firearm tool mark analysis, bloodstain analysis, and shoe print comparisons have significant room for error that is not stated in expert testimony.
Evidence in these fields may be over-exaggerated or misinterpreted. Other fields have been debunked entirely, but wrongful convictions in years past that were based on such evidence have not been reexamined.
Additionally, forensic evidence can be falsified or contaminated. Even in proven and useful fields of forensic science, this can lead to inaccurate evidence used in a wrongful conviction. Forensic analysts can engage in misconduct, claim that results are inconclusive, or fail to state the limitations of the analysis. When a conviction is based on improper forensic evidence, it is crucial that these limitations, errors, or acts of misconduct are reviewed and taken into account.
Wrongful convictions can be the result of errors and mistakes, but they are also frequently the result of intentional misconduct of law enforcement officers and individuals in the prosecution. These individuals and entities should be focused on ensuring that the correct individual is convicted.
Unfortunately, the prosecution and law enforcement often prioritize arrests and convictions, regardless of guilt or innocence. They may be negligent, engage in intentional misconduct, or engage in corruption.
Police misconduct affects individuals and communities that are more heavily policed and can impact each part of the arrest, prosecution, and conviction process. Officers may secure confessions from innocent individuals through coercion, suggestion, lies, or breaches of an individual’s constitutional rights. Law enforcement may also work with informants who are not reliable, fail to turn over evidence, lie in a criminal trial, or act on prejudiced biases.
The prosecution can also engage in misconduct. Prosecutors may provide improper evidence to the court, withhold evidence, make inaccurate arguments, and otherwise create a false narrative despite knowing it is inaccurate.
Official misconduct can be hard to review, prove, and expose. If it can be, however, it can provide grounds for potentially overturning wrongful convictions.
The systemic bias in the criminal justice system extends to all areas of the arrest, conviction, and sentencing process. The criminal justice system disproportionately impacts black and brown individuals.
Police misconduct, mistaken eyewitnesses, misidentification, false witness testimony, and false confessions of innocent persons are all errors that lead to wrongful convictions. These errors are more likely to impact black and brown people facing criminal arrest and conviction, leading to the wrongful conviction of innocent individuals.
The prosecution is required to meet the burden of proof in order to convict someone. In criminal trials, it must prove the individual is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Many of these other elements can lead to someone being convicted without meeting this burden of proof. This can include withheld evidence of innocence or false testimony.
All of these elements can be used incorrectly as evidence, either intentionally or by mistake. In other cases, the prosecution failed to meet the burden of proof, but an individual was convicted by the judge or jury anyway. All-white juries are one form of systemic bias that can lead to wrongful convictions with insufficient evidence.
False confessions are when an individual admits to a crime that they did not commit or makes incriminating statements that are used as an admission of guilt. There are many reasons why someone may falsely confess to a crime.
Police misconduct and intimidation tactics can lead a suspect to admit to an offense simply to end a long and exhausting interrogation. These tactics are more likely to result in a false confession if the officers have not provided the individual with their basic needs and/or if the individual is vulnerable in some way. This may mean they are a child or a teenager, they do not speak native or any English, or they are physically or intellectually disabled.
When there are legal errors and misconduct in a criminal case, this allows the basis for an appeal. If a conviction can be appealed, new evidence or accurate information can be presented in a new trial, which could result in a different sentence or even an innocent verdict.
A trial verdict and conviction is not the end of the criminal justice system’s process. While it is exceptionally frustrating and often devastating, individuals and their families still have options after a conviction to appeal and overturn the case.
Whether you have been wrongfully convicted or received an unduly severe sentence for the crime you committed, NLPA can help. We are a legal advocacy organization that provides research, information, and evidence for criminal defense and appellate attorneys. If you or someone you love was wrongfully convicted, contact NLPA today.
