The prosecutors in the Wayne Williams case presented evidence and witnesses in the case. None of the witnesses, in this case, witnessed Wayne Williams commit any murders. The witnesses were there to testify about what they noticed Wayne Williams do, that was not normal or unusual. The testimony which was the most damaging was Angelo Foster who was a former press secretary to the mayor. He gave information about a conversation that he had with the defendant’s father.
Have you ever been accused of something you didn 't do? Stealing something, not doing your homework, etc... Well there are people all over America that have been accused of stealing, killing or other crimes that they did not commit, and they were severely punished for it. People like Claude Jones, Cameron Todd Willingham, and Larry Griffin, were all falsely accused and punished for a crime someone else committed. Some were even put away because there was false evidence provided.
The fiber evidence presented in this case was so overwhelming and simply was the driving force leading to Wayne Williams conviction. I do not believe the prosecution would have been able to obtain the same results without it. The credibility of the FBI forensics investigators and their reputable crime lab made for excellent testimony concerning the fiber evidence at trail, which the defense was simply ill prepared to counter attack its merits (The Atlanta, n.d.). Other evidence was presented in this case, and much of this evidence while certainly impactful on the case and to members of the jury, this evidence alone without the fiber evidence would surely not have held up to the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.
In the article “2 Men Awarded $750,000 for Wrongful Convictions in 1983 Murder” was about two half brothers who were wrongly convicted for a crime they didn’t commit. The men have been awarded with $50,000 a year, up to $750,000 for each of the men. Even though it may seem like a lot at first after attorney’s fees, the cost of living, and family members it’s not a lot. After 31 years in prison, their compensation would be more than double that amount, if they had not been in prison. The men had been convicted for the rape and murder of an 11 year old in 1983, even though there was physical evidence that either of them had been involved.
Evidence was not properly searched and witness questions were set up so Steven Avery would be the man that the witness would choose. Steven Avery was arrested by Sheriffs order. He was denied a phone call which is legally not allowed and had his name kept off the list of inmates so that public defender’s office would not be aware of his arrest. It was obvious that they wanted Steven in there for something they know he didn’t do. After a long 18 year Steven Avery was finally released due to DNA test showing that the pubic hairs found on Beernsten was not his.
There have been 1,982 exonerations of those wrongfully committed of crimes they didn’t commit (The National). There are two people in specific that have been affected immensely due to being wrongfully convicted. They were charged of various crimes and have had their lives changed due to their convictions. Danny Brown and Nathan Brown were both convicted of crimes, such as rape and murder, that they didn’t commit, proven through DNA testing, and have been affected immensely, by not getting compensation post jail-time, after serving their sentence. To start, there were many accusations about the crimes committed in the Danny Brown case.
The reason O.J. was found not guilty of murder and acquitted in criminal court, but found guilty of the tort of harm and ordered to pay damages in the civil court lies in the structure of our legal system, in regards to criminal cases and civil cases. The distinct difference between criminal cases and civil cases provides further explanation regarding the O.J. Simpson case. Criminal cases deal with crimes against society. It is the government, not the victim, who brings action against the charged individual. In criminal cases, the penalties can include a number things including jail time.
Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong In Brandon L. Garrett 's book, Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong, he makes it very clear how wrongful convictions occur and how these people have spent many years in prison for crimes they never committed. Garrett presents 250 cases of innocent people who were convicted wrongfully because the prosecutors opposed testing the DNA of those convicted. Garrett provided simple statistics such as graphs, percentages, and charts to help the reader understand just how great of an impact this was.
With millions of criminal convictions a year, more than two million people may end up behind bars(Gross). According to Samuel Gross reporter for The Washington Post, writes that also “even one percent amounts to tens of thousands of tragic [wrongful conviction] errors”(Gross). Citizens who are wrongfully convicted are incarcerated for a crime he or she did not commit. Many police officers, prosecutors, and judges are responsible for the verdict that puts innocents into prison. To be able to get exonerated many wait over a decade just to get there case looked at, not many are able to have the opportunity of getting out.
In the Criminal Justice system, the criminal procedure process sometimes has issues in which can confuse and alter the way certain convictions play out. One major issue is false eyewitness testimony. This has a big impact on our legal system because its inaccuracy can cause innocent people to be convicted of serious crimes. People such as Ronald Cotton are wrongfully convicted all the time due to information that can sometimes be unreliable. Some issues regarding identity include lineups, photo arrays, eyewitness identification, and jury bias.
Therefore, this is an outdated claim, due to our justice system changing and adapting to public beliefs. There may be a few wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system, however that does not make it cause more harm than good. In any system there are flaws, we cannot disregard all the good the justice system does. Although this system has flaws like all others, it is what safeguards our society's
Luckily, it is known what causes wrongful convictions and how to fix them. Many wrongful convictions are due to mistaken eyewitnesses, jailhouse snitches, or false evidence. I think many of the wrongful convictions could be solved with harder evidence, more information. A case should not rely on a single eye witness but multiple.
Wrongful convictions are one of the most worrisome and tragic downsides to the Canadian Criminal Justice System. As stated by Campbell & Denov (2016). “cases of wrongful convictions in Canada call into question the ability of our criminal justice system to distinguish between the guilty and innocence” (p. 226). In addition, wrongful convictions can have devastating repercussions on the person, who was found guilty, effecting their personal/public identities, beliefs and family lives. This essay will be examine some of the common factors that apply to the conviction of an innocence person.
Double jeopardy is the sole reason why some criminals walk free. The justice court is fallible: ineffective representation or perjury testimony would ultimately cause a wrongful conviction. Wrongful convictions are a concern of everybody, the families of the victims or the lawyers
(Costanzo & Gerrity, 2009, p. 185). Garrett (2011)’s study showed that more than 25% detainees wrongfully convicted but later exonerated by DNA evidence made a false confession or incriminating statement. In
