1. The Truth About Wrongful Convictions
“Anybody who understands the justice system knows innocent people are convicted every day."               ~ Fla.  Supreme Court Justice Gerald Kogan (Ret.)

2. Myths Everyone in prison claims to be innocent.
Only people who live “on the edge” are charged with crimes they didn’t commit.
People who are exonerated must have done something to get charged in the first place.
Wrongful convictions are extremely rare.
Exonerations prove the system works.
It can’t happen to me.

3. Facts
2.5% to 5% of U.S. prison population are factually innocent of the crimes of which they were convicted.*
In raw numbers, that means as many as 200,000 innocent people are imprisoned.
An estimated 4% of death row inmates put to death are innocent (based on 7,482 death sentences from )
DNA testing is only possible in 5-10% of cases

4. Factors Leading to Wrongful Convictions in 62 U.S. Cases
Number of Cases
Factors Leading to Wrongful Convictions in 62 U.S. Cases
Scheck, Neufeld & Dwyer, ACTUAL INNOCENCE (2000)

6. Eyewitness Identification
Compelling evidence – but WRONG 50% of the time.
Techniques commonly used by police can skew identification.
6-photo spread (“pick the closest match”)
Use same suspect’s photo in repeat spreads (suspect starts to seem “familiar”)
Use composite sketch to “match” with suspect photos

7. Junk Science Defective or Fraudulent Science
Experts reporting inculpatory results from tests not conducted, or concealing exculpatory results
Evidence based on debunked theories, such as microscopic hair comparison or bullet-lead matching
Faulty DNA matching
Overall high error rate in crime labs and medical examiner’s offices—as high as 63%*!
*California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice

8. Police Misconduct
Tunnelvision—pick a suspect, ignore evidence that does not fit.
“T&D”—Trickery and Deceit, manipulative tactics designed to coerce confession, regardless of truth
“Bottom Fishing”—scouring jails and prisons for snitches willing to frame suspects
Evidence Tampering/Concealment/Destruction
Witness Intimidation

9. Prosecutor Misconduct
Culture of winning at all costs– “Never let the truth stand in the way of a conviction.”
“Poison the Jury Pool”– Use media to convict suspects before trial.
Withhold exculpatory evidence
Knowingly present perjured testimony
Misrepresent evidence during closing argument
Manipulate/misrepresent evidence pre-trial to coerce a guilty plea

10. Bad Defense Lawyering “Do Nothing” – Does not meet with client,
does not understand facts, does not hire experts,
does not investigate, does not review discovery,
does not subpoena or call defense witnesses,
does not effectively cross-examine state’s
witnesses, does not object to objectionable argument, does
not argue motions or closing statement effectively.
“Free or Fee” – Contrary to stereotype, bad lawyering
occurs equally among public defenders and private lawyers.

11. What is Truth in Justice?
Truth in Justice is a Virginia non-stock, nonprofit corporation organized to inform the public of the frequency of criminal conviction of factually innocent people and the reforms needed to prevent and alleviate such wrongful convictions, through education, partnership, and action.

12. What is the Innocence Project
A national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice

13. 20 States with improved eyewitness procedures to date
350 DNA exonerations to date
50 States with access to post-conviction DNA testing
25 States that record interrogations to date
20 States with improved eyewitness procedures to date

14. Innocence Project Florida
IPF has secured the release and exoneration of a number of innocent individuals from Florida’s prisons, including achieving the exoneration of James Bain, whose 35 years of wrongful incarceration is longer than that of any DNA exoneree in the United States. In total, Florida has freed 13 men after DNA testing proved their innocence. Collectively, they spent 259 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.

15. To Protect Your Family, Your Community, and Yourself?
What Can YOU Do
To Protect Your Family,
Your Community, and
Yourself?

16. Know your Constitutional rights
Innocence is no protection.
DO NOT TALK TO THE POLICE WITHOUT A LAWYER.
Do not agree to police polygraph or CVSA(Computer Voice Stress Analyzer).
Do not consent to police search without a warrant.

17. Support Reforms
Videotaping of police interrogations in serious felony cases, from beginning to end.
Eliminate suggestive eyewitness identification procedures.
Show photos one at a time, not in multi-photo spreads.
Officer not involved in investigation should conduct the identification review.

18. Adequate funding for indigent defense.
Innocence Commissions in every state to review compelling innocence claims.
With regard to the death penalty:
Decide for yourself what an acceptable error rate is (how many innocent executed per hundred);
Then act accordingly.

19. "There is no crueler tyranny than that which is exercised under cover of law, and with the colors of justice ..." - U.S. v. Jannotti, 673 F.2d 578, 614 (3d Cir. 1982)