Wrongful Convictions In Criminal Justice

Words: 637
Pages: 3
Open Document
A wrongful conviction has become known as factual innocence. A wrongful conviction might refer to a case in which a person with a good defense is found guilty. It may also be applied to a case in which the appellate court reverses the conviction because the defendant’s constitutional rights were violated (regardless of any factual guilt that might be present) (Zalman, M., Smith, B., & Kiger, A., 2008, p. 75). A wrongful conviction is a terrible injustice that is magnified when an actually innocent person spends years in prison or on death row.
Wrongful convictions are not a rare occurance. If they were they could be downplayed as a simple error as a result of a complex system. Due to frequency, this leads to the presumptions that these failing are linked to a systematic problem. As a result, the accuracy and fairness of the criminal justice system are challenged …show more content…
It was involved in 75% of the 312 DNA exonerations (Wise, Sartori, Magnussen, & Safer 2013). Moreover, the American Psycholocial Association estimates that about one of every three witnesses makes an erroneous identification (Perry v. New Hampshire, 2012). Unlike a video recorder, the human memory does not have the capability to record all information that it comes across. As observed in a lecture by Professor Edwards this semester, the human memory loses a lot of informations from the short-term memory. As a result, the recall of facial recognition by a witness may be uncertain. In addition, events that cause stress (focus on a weapon), can decrease a victim and/or witnesses facial recal. Memory is dynamic and malleable. It can change during the recall stage from what was observed under the influence of suggestion (Wise et al., 2013). These and other factors show that eyewitness identification should be received with caution, and yet police, prosecutors, and especially jurors tend to rarely disbelieve eyewitness
Show More

Related Documents: Wrongful Convictions In Criminal Justice

Wrongful Conviction: Forensic Work And The Criminal Justice System

Wrongful convictions are a problem that is unacceptable in our society, to a person like Gary Gauger, a farmer who was wrongly accused of killing his parents. These actions occur more than we think, and it can mess up one or more lives. It's unfair and makes it harder to trust the legal system that has the power to put an innocent person in jail or, even worse, sentenced to death for something they didn't do. This shows a flaw within the system that needs to be fixed by making sure everyone gets…

Words 339 - Pages 2

Wrongful Convictions Research Paper

Wrongful conviction, a major issue in the criminal justice system, can be analyzed through various sociological perspectives. This paper will explore how wrongful conviction fits with functionalism, conflict theory, feminist theory, symbolic interactionism, and utilitarianism, also known as rational choice theory or exchange theory. Functionalism is a sociological perspective that views society as a system of interconnected parts that work together to maintain stability and order. From a functionalist…

Words 523 - Pages 3

Wrongful Conviction Cases

Wrongful convictions have a destructible and Irreparable impact on the innocent defendant or people who have sent to prison. Wrongful convictions can weaken the criminal system because they cause the lose of public faith in the fairness where people will no longer trust the criminal justice system. There are various different reasons behind wrongful convictions. However, there a number of common components that frequently appear in wrongful conviction cases, including prosecutorial misconduct, false…

Words 256 - Pages 2

Famous Quotes About Wrongful Conviction

Moses Ms. Barr English 12 5/1/2024 A Calling for Justice “The greatest tragedy in the justice system is when an innocent person is wrongfully convicted,” wrote American Lawyer and social justice activist, Bryan Stevenston (“Famous Quotes About Wrongful Convictions”). This statement reflects the serious ethical and societal issues of wrongful convictions in the United States (U.S.) prison system. Despite its primary objective of guaranteeing justice and fairness, the system is not immune to mistakes…

Words 1579 - Pages 7

Wrongful Conviction: the Darryl Hunt Case Essays

Abstract Darryl Hunt is an African American born in 1965 in North Carolina. In 1984, he was convicted wrongfully of rape and murder of Deborah Sykes, a young white woman working as a newspaper editor. This paper researches oh his wrongful conviction in North Carolina. Darryl Hunt served nineteen and a half years before DNA evidence exonerated him. The charges leveled against him were because of inconsistencies in the initial stages of the case. An all-white bench convicted the then nineteen-year-old…

Words 1248 - Pages 5

Canadian Criminal Justice System Analysis

Canadian society, the Criminal Justice System’s power is to responsibly protect and serve the community. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of the Criminal Justice System is to maintain order within society and punish those who commit criminal acts (Robinson & Cahill, 2005). An innocent individual wrongfully convicted of a criminal act infringes the fundamental rights of the person. The sole purpose of the Criminal Justice System is to restrain the people who commit a criminal offence and held accountable…

Words 413 - Pages 2

Police Misconduct Research

stand, allowing unreliable witnesses to testify, intentionally destroying evidence, and depending on forensic experts that are not accredited and credible (Brandeis University, n.d.). Police misconduct causes wrongful convictions. Law enforcement officers commit perjury in wrongful conviction cases. Some of the misconduct by police officers are filing false police reports, defining…

Words 639 - Pages 3

Eyewitness Misidentification Research Paper

Within the complex framework of the criminal justice system, eyewitness testimony frequently serves as a fundamental element, exerting a substantial impact on the verdict of cases. Despite its perceived reliability, eyewitness identification is extremely prone to error, resulting in numerous wrongful convictions and ruined lives. The fallibility of human memory, along with extrinsic variables such as stress, suggestion, and time itself, can alter memories beyond recognition. Understanding the gravity…

Words 1370 - Pages 6

Wrongful Convictions Research Paper

many people believe the justice system is just, there is no doubt that many innocent people are put in prison because of misidentification and memory contamination by eyewitnesses, false or coerced confessions, and flawed forensic evidence. 1. An innocent person might be convicted of misidentification. Mistaken identification occurs when a witness or someone in the justice system mistakenly identifies someone as…

Words 1453 - Pages 6

Wrongful Convictions In Court Cases

that reach far and wide. It is essential to recognize that wrongful convictions occur more frequently than people often believe. Improper convictions, characterized as the conviction of innocent people, are more standard than frequently accepted. This exploration reveals that these terrible instances are not detached occurrences, but foundational issues burdening overall sets of laws worldwide. Factors contributing to wrongful convictions include eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, inaccurate…

Words 1565 - Pages 7