March 22, 2013   :   305 EXONERATED

VIDEO: The Causes of Wrongful Conviction The 300 DNA exonerations have cast a very harsh light on the criminal justice system, enabling us to see where the system failed. Eyewitness misidentification is by far the leading cause, contributing to nearly 75% of the wrongful convictions overturned by DNA. Unvalidated or improper forensic science played a role in half of the cases. While incomprehensible to most people who haven’t been interrogated by law enforcement, false confessions have contributed to about 25% of the wrongful convictions. Other causes include government misconduct, the use of informants who are motivated to lie and bad defense lawyers. Below are short videos of exonerees explaining how faulty evidence caused them to lose years of their lives behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit.
		Eyewitness Misidentification - Marvin Anderson Marvin Anderson served 15 years in prison for a rape in which he was misidentified. He became a suspect in the case because the perpetrator had told the victim that he “had a white girl,” and Anderson was the only black man the officer knew who lived with a white woman. Local police also used Anderson's work ID, a color photograph, in an array of otherwise black & white photos, which was shown to the victim for identification purposes.
		False Confessions - Michael Saunders Michael Saunders was 15 when he and four other teenagers were arrested for the rape and murder of a sex worker in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. Although DNA testing conducted before trial excluded all five as the source of evidence recovered from the victim’s body, Saunders and three of his co-defendants were convicted of the crime based on confessions that had been coerced by law enforcement. Saunders describes what it was like to be interrogated by Chicago police officers and why he ultimately broke down and falsely confessed to the crime. DNA testing ultimately proved his innocence and implicated a repeat offender who committed other murders against sex workers while the teens were incarcerated.
		Bad Forensics - Roy Brown After being told by a recognized bite mark expert that Roy Brown’s teeth did not match marks found on the murder victim’s body, the prosecutor relied instead on a local dentist who testified at trial that Brown’s teeth were consistent with a bite mark on the victim. While incarcerated, Brown was able to solve the murder. Five days after Brown sent a letter to the man who he suspected committed the crime, the suspect committed suicide by stepping in front of an Amtrak train. The suspect’s daughter generously provided a DNA sample that implicated her father and proved Brown’s innocence.