People are accused of crimes they didn’t commit on a relatively regular basis. Less often, they are convicted for these offenses. Even experts have difficulty estimating just how many wrongful convictions happen, but a recent study indicates we may be able to predict when they will.
Researchers with the National Institute of Justice looked at 460 cases of wrongful convictions and “near misses” and found them to have many things in common. These factors, they say, can increase the likelihood that a case will end in a bad conviction, according to the Crime Report:
- A weak defense
- If the defendant’s witness is family
- Misinterpretation of forensic evidence at trial
- A younger defendant
- A defendant with a criminal history
- A weak prosecution
- Withheld evidence by the prosecution
- Witness misidentification (both intentional and unintentional)
- Lying by a non-eyewitness
- And a “punitive state culture”
Another issue at play, what the researchers call “tunnel vision”. Tunnel vision refers to when police and prosecutors set their sights on a single suspect and create the case around that person, rather than seeking out other possibilities.
Could these factors determine when a wrongful conviction is bound to happen? Many of them seem to make perfect sense. Jurors judge defendants on issues other than the facts of the case, whether they know it or not. They are human and make judgment calls. Therefore a young defendant with a criminal history will look more “guilty” and be judged as a thug, in some cases, even before evidence is presented.
Similarly, if the only witness a defendant is able to provide is a family member, jurors won’t easily be convinced that this person isn’t lying to save their loved one from prison.
When you go to trial there are many factors at play in determining the success of your case. As the study found a “weak defense” to increase the likelihood of your conviction, so could a strong defense increase your chances of acquittal. But a strong defense isn’t only a matter of having a good attorney, it’s also a matter of knowing your rights and using them to your advantage.
It’s been estimated that wrongful convictions could account for 5% of murder cases. In sexual assault cases, the number is more like 8 to 15%. No amount of wrongful convictions is acceptable and perhaps knowing the factors that contribute to them will help reduce their prevalence.
About David Matson