Forum at Roger Williams University studies ways to avoid wrongful convictions
Taken from the Innocence Project Blog today. http://www.projo.com/ri/bristol/content/WRONGFUL_FORUM_07-30-10_F1JCG15_v8.22a49c9.html Read the article. Here is a link to the upcoming film based on the plight of Betty Anne Water's 19 year fight to free her brother, Kenneth Waters from prison for a crime he did not commit! The film "Conviction" will be in theaters in October 2010.
As it has been in so many cases of wrongful convictions, family members never give up the quest to help prove and show actual innocence and the misconduct that contributes to those wrongful convictions. Jurors and the public have a natural sense of "trust" of those involved in the investigation and prosecution of these cases. They appear to assume that if charges are filed as a result of credible investigation work and credible lab work, then the accused is likely guilty, regardless of how the facts are played out in court. Unfortunately, the guys wearing the white hats are not always the good guys.
If you read and follow the work of many Innocence Projects across America and those that have fought to bring real justice to the public's attention, you will consistently read and find that the "rules of engagement" are not always deployed in an honest and ethic manner. You will read about twisted non-sworn statements or the interpretation of an investigator's unrecorded interview of a suspect or witness. You will read how reports and testimony don't always match up, but are explained away by prosecutors by drawing attention away from the discrepancies and focusing upon the emotional impact upon the victim and the harshness of the crime. You will find and read how investigations become focused upon a particular suspect and very little investigation is made into the search for other possible suspects. You will read and find how these seekers of real justice expose political aspiration and the need to win cases that drives some prosecutors and investigators to fulfill their own twisted definition of real justice by closing cases and sometimes knowingly, but will never admit to, putting an innocent person behind bars. And the most unfortunate statistic you will read about is how the average exonerated person spends an average of 13 years behind bars before the truth sets them free. We are discovering more than ever that the credibility of some crime labs, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies is extremely flawed or corrupt. How can we, as an unsuspecting and trusting public be assured that justice can really be trusted, especially when we can see that forensic type evidence is clear or doesn't even exist? Or when statements are not able to be verified or substantiated other than by the word or the "authority" of the investigator or the professional witness? Even when we see that things don't really add up, we seem to put our whole trust into those supposedly protecting our rights, only to find out months or years later that we were duped by their perceived honesty and credibility.
We have more people incarcerated than any other country in the world. Are we really that much of a criminal society? I believe there is simply too much money and politics in our justice system that clouds the truth. We promote freedom as our benchmark to the world, yet we allow many innocent persons to lose their freedoms in the name of justice and under the guise of having the best justice system in the world. Unfortunately many will disagree. Especially those that have suffered and lived injustice in their lives. Those that have fought to reveal the truth, while in so many cases, losing everything they have in trade for the truth and the freedom they should have never lost in the first place. It's really time that we, as an educated society, really examine what is happening in our "Create-A-Crime" society and stop allowing politics and profits to dictate justice. These Innocence Projects have "years" of back-logged cases that they have not been able to even read. Yet they continue to help exonerate those they do help. We need to stop adding to the back-log and be sure that the presumption of innocence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt are preserved rights of freedom that should never be assumed or taken for granted.
As it has been in so many cases of wrongful convictions, family members never give up the quest to help prove and show actual innocence and the misconduct that contributes to those wrongful convictions. Jurors and the public have a natural sense of "trust" of those involved in the investigation and prosecution of these cases. They appear to assume that if charges are filed as a result of credible investigation work and credible lab work, then the accused is likely guilty, regardless of how the facts are played out in court. Unfortunately, the guys wearing the white hats are not always the good guys.
If you read and follow the work of many Innocence Projects across America and those that have fought to bring real justice to the public's attention, you will consistently read and find that the "rules of engagement" are not always deployed in an honest and ethic manner. You will read about twisted non-sworn statements or the interpretation of an investigator's unrecorded interview of a suspect or witness. You will read how reports and testimony don't always match up, but are explained away by prosecutors by drawing attention away from the discrepancies and focusing upon the emotional impact upon the victim and the harshness of the crime. You will find and read how investigations become focused upon a particular suspect and very little investigation is made into the search for other possible suspects. You will read and find how these seekers of real justice expose political aspiration and the need to win cases that drives some prosecutors and investigators to fulfill their own twisted definition of real justice by closing cases and sometimes knowingly, but will never admit to, putting an innocent person behind bars. And the most unfortunate statistic you will read about is how the average exonerated person spends an average of 13 years behind bars before the truth sets them free. We are discovering more than ever that the credibility of some crime labs, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies is extremely flawed or corrupt. How can we, as an unsuspecting and trusting public be assured that justice can really be trusted, especially when we can see that forensic type evidence is clear or doesn't even exist? Or when statements are not able to be verified or substantiated other than by the word or the "authority" of the investigator or the professional witness? Even when we see that things don't really add up, we seem to put our whole trust into those supposedly protecting our rights, only to find out months or years later that we were duped by their perceived honesty and credibility.
We have more people incarcerated than any other country in the world. Are we really that much of a criminal society? I believe there is simply too much money and politics in our justice system that clouds the truth. We promote freedom as our benchmark to the world, yet we allow many innocent persons to lose their freedoms in the name of justice and under the guise of having the best justice system in the world. Unfortunately many will disagree. Especially those that have suffered and lived injustice in their lives. Those that have fought to reveal the truth, while in so many cases, losing everything they have in trade for the truth and the freedom they should have never lost in the first place. It's really time that we, as an educated society, really examine what is happening in our "Create-A-Crime" society and stop allowing politics and profits to dictate justice. These Innocence Projects have "years" of back-logged cases that they have not been able to even read. Yet they continue to help exonerate those they do help. We need to stop adding to the back-log and be sure that the presumption of innocence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt are preserved rights of freedom that should never be assumed or taken for granted.
Larry King Live Interviews:
ReplyDeletehttp://cnn.com/video/?/video/showbiz/2010/10/06/lkl.conviction.stars.cnn
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2010/10/07/lkl.wrongfully.convicted.men.cnn