Not guilty: an analysis of factors that contribute to wrongful conviction
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Authors
Martin, Sharelle D.
Issue Date
2005
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Forensic sciences
Alternative Title
Abstract
This study is concerned with analyzing the factors associated with wrongful conviction of innocent individuals. Many such people are languishing in prisons and others who have served prison terms; yet most of the available studies on this important subject are essentially descriptive, rather than analytic.
With more than 2,000,000 individuals incarcerated in the nation’s prisons and jails, this “perceived” error rate would signify that between 20,000 and 60,000 individuals are incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. In many wrongful conviction cases, errors made by criminal justice professionals were determined to be associated with the phenomenon of wrongful conviction.
Though some cases rely on eyewitness and_expert testimony, many are judged upon with such testimony despite their reliability. Despite the alarming rate of wrongful conviction many criminal justice professionals believe that an “acceptable” level of wrongful convictions does not warrant changes in the criminal justice system.