Posted inBill Pursell
Charge Stacking: Gambling with People’s Lives
There is a relatively new term in the legal system that is heard all too rarely, and usually understood when it's too late. The sheer power it carries can be…
Posted inBill Pursell
Life After Exoneration
The exoneration of the falsely convicted has always been an important implication in the court system, but it is exceedingly rare. DNA testing has helped to limit the amount of time and money needed to retry a case, but this type of testing is typically only useful in murder and rape cases where DNA evidence exists.
Still, over 1000 people have been individually exonerated since the benchmark year 1989 (when DNA exoneration began).
Posted inBill Pursell
Eyewitness Misidentification
The United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, admits that statistically 8 to 12% of all state prisoners are either actually or factually innocent. If this statement alone isn’t harrowing enough, consider this quick statistical delineation. As of January 1, 2010, there were 1,404,053 total inmates in American state prisons, according to Prison Count 2010. If the Bureau of Justice’s mean statistic of falsely imprisoned people is used (10%), then in 2010 there were approximately 140,405 falsely imprisoned people in our country.
Eyewitness testimony is an integral part of the judicial process, but often can be described as a chronic ailment of the American judicial system and one that contributes to wrongful convictions. The evidence is plain to see. Search any credible study or media source, and it will invariably display the same thing. Reliance on the memory of witnesses is, after all, not reliable.
Posted inMisidentification
Make Believe Memories
Elizabeth F. Loftus has been researching memory for almost four decades. Her research in creating false memory has earned her both respect and awards in the field of psychology. Click…
Posted inExoneration
295th Person to be Exonerated Using DNA
On July 19th, the Innocence Project announced that Sedrick Courtney became the 295th person to be exonerated using DNA evidence. According to the Innocence project, "Sedrick Courtney was wrongfully convicted…
Posted inMisidentification
Eyewitness Misidentification
The United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, admits that statistically 8 to 12% of all state prisoners are either actually or factually innocent. If this statement alone isn’t harrowing enough, consider this quick statistical delineation. As of January 1, 2010, there were 1,404,053 total inmates in American state prisons, according to Prison Count 2010. If the Bureau of Justice’s mean statistic of falsely imprisoned people is used (10%), then in 2010 there were approximately 140,405 falsely imprisoned people in our country.
Eyewitness testimony is an integral part of the judicial process, but often can be described as a chronic ailment of the American judicial system and one that contributes to wrongful convictions. The evidence is plain to see. Search any credible study or media source, and it will invariably display the same thing. Reliance on the memory of witnesses is, after all, not reliable.