The Los Angeles Times just came out today with a deeper look into the Natl Registry of Exonerations’ newest data. An excerpt , then the link.
“Imagine that the lies of others led a jury to convict you of a serious crime you didn’t commit, and it took nine years for the truth to set you free.
That’s the predominant circumstance of people whose wrongful convictions have been tracked by theNational Registry of Exonerations, which since 2012 has built an impressive database. Interestingly, in a society where infatuation with forensic science has propelled the hit “CSI” television franchise, dogged investigation rather than DNA has revealed most of these miscarriages of justice.”
Note that the picture of recent exoneree Mike Hanline and his happy wife Sandy was taken in front of the Ventura County (CA, USA) Hall of Justice.
LA Times article
Updated graphs of investigation and prosecution contribution factors in nearly 1600 exonerations proved by the National Registry of Exonerations. (wait a bit for download, scroll down for other stats).
Look for GREEN: False or Misleading Forensic Evidence 23% 363/1597
Look for ORANGE: False Confession 13% 202/1597
Look for Red: Perjury or False Accusation 56% 888/1597
Look for Purple: Official Misconduct 46% 727/1597
Look for Blue: Mistaken Witness ID 34% 535/1597
For a contrasting opinion, you can read this.
FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends 