In 2003, Rep. Mark Gundrum, Republican chairman of the State Assembly Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation to create a body that would investigate the causes of wrongful convictions. The Task Force was created to examine the causes of wrongful conviction, and more broadly, other ways that the criminal justice system can be improved to ensure conviction of the guilty, and only the guilty. The Task Force included representatives of the legislature, judiciary, prosecution, defense, police, sheriffs, victim and academic communities. Based on the recommendations of the Criminal Justice Reform Package, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill aimed at minimizing the factors leading to wrongful convictions, which included provisions related to the preservation of biological evidence, improved eyewitness identification procedures and the mandatory recording of custodial interrogations. In December 2005, the governor signed the bill into law.

DNA Exonerations Nationwide

Murder Case Against Ralph Armstrong Dismissed After Prosecutor Hid Evidence of His Innocence