Wrongful convictions and the prosecutorial ethics of offering testimony by jailhouse informants and dishonest experts. Jailhouse informants have a powerful incentive to help, or. This year, texas legislators continued efforts to prevent wrongful convictions by passing a law focused on fixing unreliable jailhouse informants, unfair police station lineups and coerced. On wednesday, missouri planned to execute marcellus williams. Electronic recording of jailhouse conversations between informants and suspects. They cover correlates, causes, consequences, and the incidence of wrongful convictions, and offer recommendations for reform. The implications of wrongful convictions due to false testimony by snitches is highlighted in a 2005 report by the center on wrongful convictions, northwestern university of law, chicago, which profiles 38 death row defendants, convicted on the basis of false testimony by snitches, whose convictions were later overturned. The book magnificently lays bare the painful but critical lessons from twentyfive years of struggle for exoneration of the innocent. Once the reality of wrongful convictions has been confirmed anecdotally, the question of frequency arises. The problem of innocence in death penalty cases the. Political bookworm how snitching erodes criminal justice. Like other free research paper examples, it is not a custom research paper. Hoffman director of digital communications, ohio innocence project.
Confidential informants have lied and fabricated circumstances during their work, thus throwing prosecutors, police officers and the criminal cases they represent into question. How the false testimony of snitches results in wrongful. On october 21, 2014, without much fanfare, ahmed abu khattala made his first appearance in a federal courthouse in washington, d. Fifteen out of every one hundred wrongful convictions cases that have been overturned by dna testing methods have involved the testimony of informants, or jailhouse snitches, according to research by the innocence project. What set me free the story that inspired the major motion picture brian banks.
Here is an aspect of criminal trial proceedings that rarely reach the consciousness of the general public. In part i, scholars discuss the efforts of the innocence movement over the past quarter century to expose the phenomenon of wrongful convictions and to implement lasting reforms. Wrongful convictions and the prosecutorial ethics of offering. For more information on these and other aspects of incentivized informants, visit the innocence project. Unregulated jailhouse informant testimony sends innocent people to prisonand. This case inspired john grishams bestselling book an innocent man which has. Perceptions of criminal justice professionals regarding the frequency of wrongful conviction and the extent of system errors. Law on informants designed to avoid wrongful convictions.
Jailhouse informants and dishonest experts have long been identified as significant causes of wrongful convictions. Criminal informants, or snitches,l play a prominent role in this wrongful conviction phenomenon. In fact, the nations first documented wrongful conviction involved a snitch. But if we can admit that the use of jailhouse informants is. Throughout this article, i use the pejorative term snitch rather. Researchers and other cj professionals want to know how often miscarriages occur, and whether there are consistent correlates that can lend themselves to prediction and possibly prevention. Unshackled, wearing a black, zipup hooded sweatshirt, unencumbered by any extra security, he heard the charges against him and swore to tell the truth, just like any other person charged with a crime. Apr 19, 2018 while the reality of incentivized informants is one of the biggest problems in wrongful convictions in our country, its not the only one. Bill would restrict informant testimony in death cases. Informants and incentivized witnesses, center on wrongful. The study concluded that over 45 percent of those innocence cases were due to the testimony of a lying informant, making snitches the leading cause of wrongful convictions in u. A former prosecutor exposes the psychology and politics of wrongful convictions, by mark godsey 2017 getting.
Jailhouse informants are people in prison who are incentivized to. According to the innocence project, the use of jailhouse informants and other incentivized witnesses is a demonstrated cause of wrongful conviction. Download citation criminal informants and wrongful convictions an informant is anyone who supplies information to a third party. Wrongful convictions and the accuracy of the criminal justice.
However, to stand by and do nothing at any level of the criminal justice system is a dereliction of respon sibility and leadership. Mar 02, 2010 perhaps the best recognized danger associated with criminal informants is their infamous unreliability. Books and movies about wrongful conviction innocence. The american death penalty has a big innocence problem, and it is not going away. In many wrongful convictions, defendants were not given key information. Northwestern university law schools center on wrongful convictions, 45. Much has been written about the legal challenges to such testimony. Informant witnesses and the risk of wrongful convictions by. Jul 15, 2016 roth, jessica, informant witnesses and the risk of wrongful convictions july, 2016. The wrongful conviction of an innocent person is the worst nightmare to. Wrongful convictions and the dna revolution edited by daniel. The grand jury report noted that convicted defendants could raise wrongful conviction claims based on the countys use of jailhouse informants but it isnt clear how many claims were ever raised on those grounds. The use of jailhouse informants and other incentivized witnesses is a demonstrated cause of wrongful convictions in this state, he said, referencing studies that have shown false snitch.
Mar 30, 2017 an exoneree shares his story of wrongful conviction in anatomy of innocence jerry miller spent more than 25 years behind bars for crimes he didnt commit. It concerns anyone who cares about law enforcement and public safety. Here, university of virginia law professor brandon garrett describes how informants. Today, there is much more awareness about wrongful convictions, including. Informants, cooperators, and the corruption of justice brown, ethan on. Wrongful convictions and the dna revolution should be required reading for prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and jurors alike. This sample wrongful convictions research paper is published for educational and informational purposes only. Jailhouse informants university of michigan law school. Tweaks to law could prevent wrongful convictions caused by.
The report estimated that over a 10year period, as many as 250 cases involving informants were affected. Working to free the wrongfully convicted and to prevent wrongful convictions in minnesota, north dakota, and south. A law professor who wrote a book on the degree to which false testimony from snitches contributes to wrongful convictions. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the center on wrongful convictions at northwestern university school of law. Chandra levy case confirms danger of reliance on jailhouse informants. A selection of books on wrongful conviction cases and related issues. Oct 20, 2016 also, if you have an interest in fairness, justice and preventing wrongful convictions, then the new book how the police generate false confessions, by former washington, d. The result is wrongful convictions and appallingly gruesome crimes, including the grisly murder of the. Henry associate professor of justice studies, montclair university carey d. Dec 08, 2018 national and illinois organizations that fight wrongful convictions are hailing a new illinois law as the best protection in the country against false testimony from people in prisons or jails who. The criminology of wrongful conviction sage journals. Defense attorneys and many academics say wrongful convictions are a recurrent problem requiring substantial changes in the criminal justice system, but prosecutors, police and other academics say mistaken convictions are such a small percentage of all cases that the system should mostly be left alone. If you need help writing your assignment, please use our custom writing services and buy a paper on any of the criminal justice research paper topics. The result is wrongful convictions and appallingly gruesome crimes, including the.
Wrongful convictions wrongful convictions are a concern of prosecutors and defense lawyers, liberals and conservatives, lawyers and nonlawyers. Electronic recording of law enforcement discussions with witnesses. We will be looking at 5 more of the most common reasons in future blog posts. Homicide detectives book describes how the police generate. Bill would restrict informant testimony in death penalty cases. An exoneree shares his story of wrongful conviction in. It almost never reaches the understanding of jurors.
Jailhouse informant testimony is one of the leading contributing factors of wrongful convictions nationally, playing a role in nearly one in five of the 367 dnabased exoneration cases. Defense attorneys and many academics say wrongful convictions are a recurrent problem requiring substantial changes in the criminal justice system, but prosecutors, police and other academics say mistaken convictions are such a small percentage of. There is plenty of work ahead, but the legislature should start with two issues this session. Wrongful convictions and dna revolution twenty five years freeing. This exciting area of the law is developing at a rapid pace with an increasing numbers of exonerations of innocent people around the world. Wrongful convictions and the dna revolution bookshare. This book examines the lessons learned from twentyfive years of dna exonerations and identifies lingering. Chandra levy case confirms danger of reliance on jailhouse.
Strict enforcement of discovery rules, including disclosure of promises of leniency, cash, or anything else of value in exchange for witnesses cooperation. Informant testimony innocence project of minnesota. Cases and materials is the first textbook to bring together the law related to the exoneration of innocent people wrongfully convicted of crimes. The testimony of informants or jailhouse snitches has been used as central evidence in wrongful convictions. Nov 24, 20 according to a 2005 report by northwestern university law schools center on wrongful convictions, a group of attorneys and advocates, the use of informants in criminal cases probably arrived in the new world with the pilgrims. Surviving jon burges police torture ring and death row, and described being. Wrongful convictions and the accuracy of the criminal justice system. A true story of wrongful conviction, a dream deferred. Cardozo school of law yeshiva university jacob burns institute for advanced legal studies july. In a recent study, northwestern university law school estimated that lying informants accounted for over 45 percent of all wrongful capital convictions, making snitches the leading cause of wrongful convictions in u. In this current article, the author revisits the ideas first developed in rethinking the study of miscarriages of justice to evaluate what scholars have learned about wrongful convictions in the last decade, and what challenges lie ahead for developing a more robust criminology of wrongful conviction. Policing and wrongful convictions 5 convictions occur as a result of systemwide errors, not simply mistakes by police officers. The northwestern law schools center on wrongful convictions found in 2005 that. Bill clinton was president and amazon was a book company, robinsons lawyer jonathan potts says.
How texas is becoming the gold standard against wrongful. A 2004 northwestern university study of wrongful convictions found that informants. The credibility of jailhouse informants is clouded in skepticism. Aug 28, 2017 it may surprise many people that such unreliable evidence is still used even in the most serious death penalty cases. Books and movies about wrongful conviction innocence project. Natapoff has written extensively on the role of snitch testimony in wrongful convictions and says that informants have become law enforcement s investigative tool of choice. Wrongful convictions alexandra natapoff introduction thanks to new dna technologies and the heroic efforts of innocence advocates, there is increasing public recognition that our criminal justice system often convicts the wrong people. False testimony from incentivized informants can cause wrongful convictions. A 2004 study by northwestern university law school examined all the wrongful capital convictions discovered to date. Studies have shown that informants testified against defendants whose wrongful convictions were later overturned thanks to dna.
Informants, cooperators, and the corruption of justice. These include eyewitness misidentifications, false confessions, dishonest informants, poor defense lawyering, weak forensic evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct. National and illinois organizations that fight wrongful convictions are hailing a new illinois law as the best protection in the country against false testimony from people in prisons or jails who. End the use of jailhouse informants the washington post. A former prosecutor exposes the psychology and politics of wrongful convictions, by mark godsey 2017. The governments use of criminal informants is largely secretive, unregulated and unaccountable, she says. The issue involves the accuracy in the justice system, and accuracy is a goal that is shared by everyone.