Document Type
Article
Publication Title
New York Law School Law Review
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
In order to determine the number of innocent persons convicted and the severity of the problem that exists, it is necessary to examine the statistics. As indicated below, an often-quoted figure representing the number of wrongly persons convicted is about 0.5% of all criminal cases, or 30,000, which is not an insignificant number. Some modest changes in the system, particularly furnishing defendants with more exculpatory evidence at the outset, might make a significant change in that number.
The article focuses on the rate of false conviction of innocent people in the U.S. and highlights the steps to be taken to prevent such convictions. It informs that according to the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 10,639,369 serious index crimes were committed in year 2009 of which 1,318,398 were violent crimes and 9,320,971 were property crimes. It also informs that all police-suspect interrogations should be videotaped to record improper police interrogations.
Recommended Citation
Leon Friedman,
The Problem of Convicting Innocent Persons: How Often Does it Occur and How Can it be Prevented?, 56 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 1053
(2012)
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship/301