HOW DO THEY HAPPEN?
It is well documented that some of the reasons for wrongful convictions is that many defendants who are arrested and beaten or tortured into making false confessions. Lawyers are indifferent or incompetent. Often, the jury is confused or overwhelmed by the evidence, which is sometimes unreliable. Although there are many men and women prosecutors who are of the highest integrity, there are some that are not. There is prosecutorial misconduct. The truth is distorted or the prosecutor lies. Evidence that could show the defendant's innocence is withheld. On trial, they call jailhouse snitches, or other witnesses who give erroneous eyewitness testimony. In some cases where there are charges brought against more than one defendant at at time, one of the accused will negotiate a plea with the prosecutor. In exchange for a lighter sentence or less serious charge, this defendant testifies against the remaining defendants, often untruthfully. Many times neither the Grand jury nor the jury at trial is ever explained the law regarding the crime.
It seems the goal is to win at any cost. Truth is irrelevant.
And all the while, the person who should have been convicted from the beginning roams silently among us.
Many defendants proclaimed their innocence after they were convicted, and for years they were crying in the wilderness. Now there are many organizations working to exonerate death row inmates through the use of DNA evidence. But many other defendants who are convicted of white collar and other crimes, have no one to help them prove their innocence.
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