Week 8

Hi everyone! The SRP weeks are winding down and thus research is getting less and the writing is becoming more. Nonetheless new facts are to be uncovered every day. This week's blog I am just going to go over some facts that may come as a surprise to you, and others that might not. Next week I hope to meet with the Justice Project representative who can provide insight into this amazing organization.

Some facts:

• Defense attorneys can't talk to the victim at all! This is called the Victim's Bill of Rights.
• Most exonerations are sexual assault crimes- thus more men than women are exonerated
• Majority of exonerees are minorities
• Prosecutorial misconduct is rarely ever uncovered and when it is, it never rises to the level that it is harmful to the case. So basically prosecutors get off unscathed even though they are a big part of a wrongful conviction.
• There are more men than women in prison

Story of the Day: The shaken baby syndrome is something that can occur if someone shakes a newly born baby causing three major inward signs such as hemorrhaging. In 2002 Drayton Witt was convicted of second degree murder because everyone thought that he had "shaken" his baby till the baby died. The Phoenix Children's Hospital insisted the cause of death was shaken baby syndrome. However, in 2008 this case was taken up by some awesome lawyers in Arizona through the Justice Project who provided sworn testimony after reviewing the case that the baby died because of natural causes, proving Drayton Witt innocent. :)