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Virginia Study Uncovers Wrongful Convictions
Posted: June 19, 2012 2:00 pm
The Urban Institute released a study on Monday examining potential wrongful convictions in Virginia, which supports the innocence of 38 people convicted of crimes (33 for sexual assault and five for murder). The Urban Institute, a nonpartisan national research center, indicates a state wrongful conviction rate in sexual assault cases between 8 and 15%.
The study used data from Virginia’s Post-Conviction DNA Testing Project, as well as old state forensic files, which contained basic facts about the cases. Five people have already been exonerated based on the Post-Conviction DNA Testing Project, including Bennett Barbour, who was exonerated in May. Barbour was not informed that he had been excluded as the source of DNA from the crime until 18 months after Virginia obtained the test results. The Institute believes that the data presents the strongest opportunity ever to accurately access the rate of wrongful convictions.
The Post-Conviction DNA Testing Project was born out of revelations from 2001 that some serologists who had performed blood-type testing on physical evidence from 1973 to 1988 (before DNA tests were standard) kept samples of the evidence. In September 2004, then-Virginia Governor Mark Warner ordered that the DNA evidence in 31 sample cases be retested. When this cleared two men of rapes, Warner ordered the retesting of evidence from approximately 800 cases. Of these, 214 cases had evidence that could be submitted for DNA testing, reported the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The Urban Institute did not release any of the names of the 38 individuals, but many of their names are likely to become public in the next few weeks, according to the Times-Dispatch. Recent state legislation has forced Virginia to release the names of convicted individuals who have been excluded as the sources of DNA from their respective crimes. The Commonwealth will release those names on July 1.Steven D. Benjamin, a member of the Virginia Board of Forensic Science and president elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the study should set off alarm bells.
“Each defendant in the cases that support innocence should be interviewed immediately, and the case investigated thoroughly. If any one of these (38) is innocent, each day … is an injustice.”
Last month, the Virginia Department of Forensic Science said that the post-conviction DNA testing had excluded nearly 80 people of crimes for which they had been convicted. Not all of these exclusions necessarily prove innocence, but the Urban Institute’s study further indicates that numerous individuals have been wrongfully convicted in Virginia.
Read the full article.
Tags: Virginia