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police work does contribute to wrongful convictions, but it is not the primary reason. Though their job is to conduct interviews, arrest individuals, and report/testify in court, they are not the only ones involved in working to convict an individual. “…false or mistaken eyewitness identification; unethical or overzealous practices among criminal justice actors, including prosecutors and the police; illegally obtained and/or false confessions; use of unreliable informants, especially “jailhouse snitches”; inadequate assistance of counsel; forensic errors and/or malfeasance (see National Research Council, 2009); and an uber-focus on legal versus factual guilt.” (Hemmens, C. et. al., 2019). I do not think you can narrow it down to only one primary source to blame for wrongful convictions, but instead look at it as the criminal justice system as a whole. The greatest reform needed in my opinion, is the accuracy of evidence testing. There are many cases involving victims wrongfully identifying individuals, maybe in hopes of finding closure within themselves? Or just the simple fact that when someone experiences such traumatic events, they try to rationalize what happened to them. In this instance I would like to reference the case of A.B. Butler who was convicted of aggravated kidnapping (rape being the aggravation) and sentenced to 99 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. The victim “identified” him by a book of mugshots, at a line up, and again at trial. “Butler presented alibi witnesses who claimed that he was elsewhere with them during the time that the crime occurred. Nevertheless, Butler was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison.” (Innocence Project n.d.). After his appeals were denied testing the evidence from the crime, he luckily was able to get help from an organization fighting wrongful convictions, and after 17 years into his sentencing he was proven innocent and released when DNA evidence concluded he was not the perpetrator. If the DNA had been tested sooner, Butler may never have had to serve any prison time for this crime and the person who was responsible would not have been free to commit further assaults.
Hemmens, C., Brody, D. C., & Spohn, C. (2019). Criminal Courts: A Contemporary Perspective (4th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781544338934Innocence Project. (n.d.). A.B. Butler. Time Served: 17 years. Retrieved February 23, 2023. A.B. Butler – Innocence Project
In your response to your peers, consider how well they justified their position, making use of available resources.
Consider the following questions in your response posts:
Did they support their position convincingly using appropriate resources?
Which of their points make the most sense to you, even if you made your case for the opposing viewpoint? +500 words include references
Your peer makes an excellent case for why police work does contribute to wrongful convictions, but is not the primary reason. They provide very compelling evidence from a source in the criminal justice system and cite a real-life example of how DNA evidence can prove that someone was wrongfully convicted. Their point about forensic errors and malfeasance being one of the biggest contributors to false convictions is particularly meaningful, especially when they contrast it with alibi witnesses who were unable to help A.B Butler because at that time the DNA wasn’t available as proof of innocence.
I agree with their conclusion that we cannot narrow down wrongful convictions to just one primary source. It’s clear through their examples that there are many factors contributing to false or mistaken identification, unethical practices among criminal justice actors, inadequate assistance of counsel, and so on which all play a role in convicting innocent people. While police work does make mistakes sometimes leading up to an incorrect conviction, it’s not only the police department responsible for this issue within our criminal justice system; each person involved contributes in some way like prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges and juries playing various parts within court proceedings as well.
Furthermore I was impressed by their suggestion for reform focusing on accuracy of evidence testing; I hadn’t considered how quickly DNA technology could have helped exonerate someone such as A.B Butler sooner than 17 years into his sentence if it had been tested earlier! This really shows us how much power accurate testing has over overturning wrongly convicted individuals — possibly saving them from years spent away from family and unrightful punishment due to lack of reliable evidence or witnesses who are sometimes unwilling or unable to tell the truth.
Overall your peers case was thorough yet concise and served its purpose by providing us with multiple resources while also tying them together around a single topic: the complexity behind wrongful convictions caused by multiple aspects aside from just police work alone.