police, prosecutors & witnesses who falsely accuse should be made to pay for those they have falsely imprisoned.

The Facts

There have been 218 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States.

• The first DNA exoneration took place in 1989. Exonerations have been won in 32 states; since 2000, there have been 154 exonerations.

• 16 of the 218 people exonerated through DNA served time on death row.

• The average length of time served by exonerees is 12 years. The total number of years served is approximately 2,694.

• The average age of exonerees at the time of their wrongful convictions was 26.

Races of the 218 exonerees:

134 African Americans
59 Caucasians
19 Latinos
1 Asian American
5 whose race is unknown

Mistaken identifications are the leading factor in wrongful convictions
Mistaken eyewitness identifications contributed to over 75% of the more than 210 wrongful convictions in the United States overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence.

• Inaccurate eyewitness identifications can confound investigations from the earliest stages. Critical time is lost while police are distracted from the real perpetrator, focusing instead on building the case against an innocent person.

• Despite solid and growing proof of the inaccuracy of traditional eyewitness ID procedures – and the availability of simple measures to reform them – traditional eyewitness identifications remain among the most commonly used and compelling evidence brought against criminal defendants.

What should be done

police, prosecutors & witnesses who falsely convict should be held criminally responsible to those who have been found not guilty at a later time, a lump some from the city or jurisdiction of the arresting officer,

and all future wages of the arresting officer, DA and witnesses who purger themselves for good measure.

This would go along way toward setting an example to police to get their facts straight before ruining another life. And also DA’s would think twice about bringing a case to trial on shaky evidence.

False arrest is no laughing matter.

Feel free to post your views on this subject.

~ by Shadow Master on July 14, 2008.