Wrongful Convictions

What are the causes of wrongful convictions? Criminal law examines why there are many wrongful convictions and the causes to them. Theories has shown that wrongful convictions have revealed disturbing fissures and trends in the criminal justice system. Other theories indicates that an overlapping array of contributing factors has emerged; from mistakes to misconduct to factors of race and class. The state’s obligation to do more to correct wrongful convictions is in proportion to the rate at which they are currently allowed to occur. But our knowledge of the frequency of wrongful convictions is inevitably limited. The criminal standard of proof is demanding, but absolute certainty is unachievable and not required .(Hammer . Some risk of convicting

In some states, only certain convicts may request testing; and in others, requests are limited to a certain time period after sentencing. Many of these laws, however, do not mandate that DNA analysis is a right only that prisoners may request it. A Virginia court ruled in 2001 that prisoners convicted of felonies have a constitutional right to DNA testing, and in November, 2008, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that will determine whether prisoners have a constitutional right to test DNA evidence. As of March 2011, 266 people are known to have been exonerated in the United States through the use of DNA evidence.

It is important to note that forty-three states do require DNA samples to be collected from all convicted felons, but this sample is not necessarily to be used for analysis in that particular case. Rather, it is put into a database for future reference. For example, investigators looking into a robbery may check DNA samples from the current crime scene against the DNA of persons previously convicted, to look for matches. For some, the maintenance of this large national database presents a wrongful invasion of

Much depends upon the circumstances of the individual case. Given the wide range of sentencing options an error in sentencing may have just as great an impact as a wrongful conviction. For one defendant a first summary conviction may be extremely damaging to career, family and relationships, whereas for another, already in prison on other unchallenged convictions, an additional indictable conviction may make little difference. The injustice of a wrongful conviction does not necessarily decrease over time. The injustice may grow and fester with the passage of time, even extending beyond the defendant’s death (Risinger 2007).The correctness of the conviction may also be a matter of important public