forensic science
The CSI Effect, Fact or Fiction?
Published November 02, 2009 @ 06:39AM PT
The overwhelming popularity of crime and forensics TV shows like CSI, Law & Order and NCIS is having a profound impact on how our society views crime, but the storied effect of these shows on juries may be a myth.
A new study shows that watching these shows leads us to drastically overestimate the frequency of violent crime in our country.
The new research, from Purdue University, finds that frequent TV crime viewers estimated that the number of murders was 2-3 times higher than it is in reality. But true-crime junkies also think cops and lawyers are everywhere. They guessed that each group made up more than 16 percent of the American workforce. They're really less than one percent each.
So how does this altered perception of crime translate to the courtroom?
When There's No DNA
Published October 23, 2009 @ 06:54AM PT
Two men are expected to be freed later today in Dallas after serving 12 years in prison for a murder they didn't commit. So why does District Attorney Craig Watkins say it's his "biggest" exoneration yet?
Watkins, a hero in the innocence movement for his success in shifting a major Texas city from 'tough on crime' to 'smart on crime,' says the cases of Claude Alvin Simmons Jr. (left) and Christopher Shun Scott (right) could have national impact because they cleared through reinvestigation -- but not DNA testing, and because his office worked closely with the Dallas Police.
"I expect this case will get a lot of attention, and I expect you'll see other police departments get involved in cases like this. We're going to lead the way in how to dispense justice," Watkins told the Dallas Observer.
Reexamining Shaken Baby Convictions
Published October 09, 2009 @ 07:20AM PT
In Georgia on Tuesday, a woman named Melonie Ware was acquitted in her second trial for charges that she killed a nine-month-old infant at her in-home day care by shaking the child. It turns out the baby died of sickle cell anemia. And you’ll hear this story again soon, with a different defendant in a different state. And then again after that.
More than 200 people are convicted of shaken baby murder each year in the U.S., and new scientific research shows that many of them are innocent. The time has come for a sweeping review of these cases that could free hundreds of innocent people from prison.
I pointed in June to the new research in shaken baby cases, but it bears repeating. There is a growing body of work showing that’s it is actually impossible to shake a baby to death. There is general consensus among scientists that the triad of symptoms long believed to be exclusive to shaken baby syndrome can actually be caused by other forms of trauma. Deborah Tuerkheimer, a University of Maine School of Law professor, wrote in a new paper on Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) that "we may surmise that a sizeable portion of the universe of defendants convicted of SBS-based crimes is, in all likelihood, factually innocent."
To be sure, many people convicted of causing a child’s death through abuse actually are guilty -- they could have hit or dropped the child -- but many are not, and it's up to us to correct these injustices.
Five Supreme Court Cases to Watch
Published October 05, 2009 @ 07:20AM PT
The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term today, and there are several key criminal cases before the justices. We'll be watching closely to see how new Justice Sonia Sotomayor comes down on key criminal issues and whether the conservative bloc of the court further consolidates along ideological lines. It should be an interesting term. Here are five cases to keep your eye on this term:
-- Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida -- two cases filed by Florida state prisoners sentenced to life without parole as juveniles. The cases challenge life without parole as a cruel and unusual punishment for kids. I've written about these upcoming cases here and here. The U.S. is virtually alone in handing down this harsh punishment; we have 2,500 people serving life for crimes committed and juveniles while the rest of the world only has 12 such prisoners. I hope the court continues to apply the logic it used in overturning the death penalty for juveniles in Roper v. Simmons, when the justices looked abroad to find that our system of punishing kids had become the definition of unusual. Both cases will be argued November 9.
-- Pottawattamie County et al. v. McGhee et al. -- the court will consider cases brought by two wrongfully convicted defendants arguing that they have the right to sue prosecutors who fabricate evidence of guilt or intentionally withhold evidence of innocence. The prosecutors in these cases argue that they are protected by absolute immunity, even as they manufactured false evidence, and the National DA association, the U.S. Solicitor General and Attorneys General of 27 states have their back. Radley Balko has a thorough -- and scathing -- examination of this case at Reason Magazine. Oral arguments are set for November 4.
New Yorker: Texas Executed an Innocent Man
Published August 31, 2009 @ 06:51AM PT
A report published today in the New Yorker finds that Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 in Texas for setting a fire that killed his three daughters, was innocent. He is pictured at left with his two-year-old daughter Amber, who died in the fire.
This is incredibly sad news, but it also marks the most conclusive evidence yet that an innocent person has been put to death in the United States. We’ve known for years that the arson science used to convict Willingham was flat-out wrong. Today’s New Yorker report goes further: it dismantles the case that sent Willingham to his death, point-by-point, proving that every shred of evidence used against him was false.
Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck wrote in the Huffington Post: "There can no longer be any doubt that an innocent person has been executed. The question now turns to how we can stop it from happening again."
And the New York Times adds, in an editorial today: "The Willingham investigation, which is continuing, is further evidence that the criminal justice system is far too flawed to justify imposing a death penalty."
I strongly, strongly urge you to read David Grann’s incredible New Yorker piece in its entirety. I can’t imagine that you can leave the story with trust in our system of capital punishment.
(Disclaimer: We’re reporting on this story today at the Innocence Project, where I work when I'm not blogging here at change.org. The Innocence Project has been involved in investigations of the Willingham case, but views expressed here are mine alone.)
Limiting DNA Testing and Denying Justice to Victims
Published July 22, 2009 @ 05:17AM PT
On June 18th, the United States Supreme Court ruled by a 5-to-4 decision that prisoners have no constitutional right to DNA testing that might prove their innocence if they have been wrongfully convicted. That decision is one that will hurt crime victims in the U.S.
The five-justice majority found that this was a state issue instead of a federal one. In essence, state legislatures were doing enough already to remedy the problem of wrongful convictions. The opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. for the majority, said that to vote in favor of giving such rights to inmates would “short circuit what looks to be a prompt and considered legislative response.” It’s hard to agree with Chief Justice Roberts when 240 prisoners to date in the U.S. have been exonerated because of the use of DNA testing. Often the exoneration of these inmates has been due to the hard work of organizations like the Innocence Project and other organizations across the country. Without the use of DNA testing it is hard to think how these innocent prisoners would ever have seen the light of day.
But what concerns me as well is the number of crime victims who have been shafted yet again by the criminal justice system in the U.S. They once thought their case was solved only to find years later, sometimes two decades later, that the wrong man was convicted and sentenced. What a blow! According to the Innocence Project, out of the 240 exoneration cases, some 103 of those cases also identified the actual perpetrator through that same testing. DNA testing frees the innocent and catches real perpetrators. As a restorative justice advocate my question is : What on earth are we waiting for?
Monday Map: The Debate Over DNA Databases
Published July 20, 2009 @ 03:48PM PT
Today's map shows the 21 states where the DNA profile of everyone arrested for a felony is added to the state database and checked against unsolved crimes. These laws have spread quickly in recent years, with several more states are considering joining the 21 above. The federal government started collecting profiles from arrestees last year. Here's the dilemma: many people arrested for a crime are innocent. The expansion of DNA databases to include suspects will lead us to solve some serious, violent crimes - but it also raises big concerns about three issues: the potential invasion of privacy, increased minority contact with the system and an unmanageable new burden for crime labs.
The map above comes from DNA Saves, an organization founded by the parents of a murder victim seeking to prevent future crime by catching perpetrators more effectively. The group's goals are admirable - a violent criminal is usually more likely to be arrested than an upstanding citizen, even for a minor crime. When the person's DNA profile is entered into the database and it matches the profile of a perpetrator of a serious crime, we've caught a potentially dangerous person. But in my view the logistics and the potential misuse of DNA evidence raise too many questions to go forward with arrestee databases. Here's why I feel this way:
