Week 3

Hi guys! Week 3 was research, research, and more research.In my previous blog post I mentioned how I was going to solidify my outline and then analyze the other causes besides false confessions, that contribute to wrongful convictions. So, some other causes involve junk science, eyewitness error, and snitch testimony. In some criminal cases, scientific results and facts hold great significance in making a determination. To present such evidence at trials, "expert" witnesses are called, and they might be unqualified, or present fraud data in order to sway the jury, the wrong way. Junk science consists of data which is fraudulent, or mishandled. Snitch testimony deals with informants or incentivized witnesses who have a specific motive to testify. They could testify for a few number of reasons: 1) they are paid money  2) will be released from prison. In some cases where DNA or other biological evidences are not possible to show, there is much weight or proof of guilt put onto these witnesses' testimonies, causing the jury to believe them, and wrongfully convict. I found this study which was put forth by the  Center of Wrongful Convictions in Chicago, which showed how these witnesses put THIRTY-EIGHT innocent Americans on death row. This study goes into further detail about snitch testimony. Another cause could simply be eyewitness error.This is the GREATEST contributing factor to wrongful convictions. Over SEVENTY percent of convictions that are overturned showed, how influential eyewitnesses are to the cases.

Story of the Day: In 1982, Marvin Anderson was called in to the police station to answer some questions about a rape that had occurred. Marvin did not know that the man who had raped the victim, told her he "had a white girl." Marvin was the only person that the investigating officer knew about that lived with a white girl. The victim was then shown 6 photos of both African American and white men. She picked Marvin. Then shown another lineup she picked Marvin again. Even though he had an alibi, Marvin was convicted of rape, sodomy, abduction, and robbery based mainly off of eyewitness misidentification, and was sentenced to 210 years, After 15 years he was finally exonerated through DNA testing.

Lesson: Eyewitnesses hold a lot more power than they really should.

Week 2

Hey everyone! Second week of my research journey consisted of me questioning why I even wanted to do this project. Why is research so important? Reading the Craft of Research, I realized that people devote their entire lives to getting answers. Teachers, scientists, analysts all work hours and hours to produce research, that is the backing for scientific discoveries, new technologies and products. Research contributes to the wealth of knowledge in the universe, gets rid of prejudices and hatred and expands your own bank of knowledge. With the push and motivation I needed, I began to write my outline. My essay will be a 20 page pager regarding the research questions that I talked about in my Week 1 blog post. One of my main topics involves the causes of wrongful convictions. Looking at the percentage of exoneration data, I came upon this interesting chart:

A fair percentage, about 27% is from false confessions, which brings us to the question, what causes false confessions? Law enforcement officers and prosecutors with their own agendas are a major influential factor. Along with the defendant's own lawyer telling him/her that this is the best plea deal- it's either confess to this crime and get 15 years versus don't confess, go to trial, and potentially serve life in prison. Analyzing the other causes is my plan for Week 3. 

http://www.innocenceproject.org/causes-wrongful-conviction

Week 1

Hi everyone! My first week's journey delving into such a complicated topic started with the help of the great Dr. Parchesky who loaned me the book  The Craft of Research to formulate what research questions I actually wanted to look into. I came up with "How do wrongful convictions lead to prosecutorial misconduct?" How does police misconduct condone false confessions, and thus lead to wrongful convictions?" "What are the factors that actually lead to this ultimate miscarriage of justice, and what steps do we have to take to prevent this?" After solidifying my research questions, I started some preliminary research. I came upon the Innocence Project which was founded in 1992 which helps assist those that are wrongfully convicted and can be proven innocent through DNA testing. They have four goals: 1) Exonerate 2) Improve 3) Reform 4) Support. The Innocence Project is in many states such as Florida, and Minnesota. Specific to Arizona, our project's name is the Justice Project. Founded in 1998, this Justice Project is a branch of the Innocence Project and works to help those whose pleas of innocence go unheard. I also looked into autobiographies so I can get insight into the actual feelings and thoughts of those who were convicted, and I came across the books Actual Innocence and Manifest Injustice. I will start reading these books, and drafting my outline during Week 2!

Introduction

The law affects every single citizen, and sometimes negatively. This project will examine the consequences of wrongful convictions in criminal cases and how this influences prosecutorial and police misconduct and how this can sometimes even lead to false confessions. My goal is examine how this impacts lives, of not only those who are brutally and wrongfully ripped away from their families, but of the families themselves. Other goals involve, taking a deeper look into the justice system and what causes these wrongful convictions. One mistake can ruin so many lives forever, how can we prevent this?