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Wrongful convictions in the court system
Wrongful convictions in the court system
Wrongful convictions in the court system
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Wrongful Convictions in the United Kingdom
Similar to Canada, the United Kingdom also has wrongful conviction cases. Several high profile wrongful exonerations highlighted in the media have prompted the public to question just how safe and reliable the criminal justice system is (Naughton, 2006). As a result, new laws and legislation have been brought in over the last 20 years to try and prevent further wrongful convictions. In contrast to the main factor behind wrongful convictions in Canada, in the United Kingdom police perjury and non-disclosure of relevant evidence at the original trial are seen as the main contributors to miscarriages of justice (Weathered, 2013). In particular, it was found that there were many instances of police corruption
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The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is a small group comprised of around 14 individuals including former police officials and lawyers who review cases where doubts have been raised (Weathered, 2013). The CCRC receives significant public funding to undertake its work and has extensive investigative powers. It also has the ability to review a broad range of miscarriage of justice claims and issues of sentencing. It is important to note that the CCRC does not have the power to determine the outcome of cases, but if certain criteria is established, it can refer a case back to the Court of Appeal (Naughton, 2006). This seems like a weakness of the CCRC but nevertheless the CCRC is able to retain its independence and thus avoid conflicts of interest like that of the Canadian …show more content…
As such, innocence commissions have been promoted as a better way of reducing miscarriages of justice. Based on the successfully tenets of the CCRC, the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission is the first full-time state agency dedicated to investigating post-conviction claims of actual innocence (Bindman & Nethery, 2011). Because it is a state agency, the innocence commission has powers that other institutions lack. Investigators can compel testimony with subpoenas, for example, and gather other kinds of evidence for their cases. The innocence commissions is said to have the “the unique power, because we are a neutral, fact-finding state agency by statute, to collect and test physical evidence in criminal cases” (Ford, 2015, p.3). This power is significant as in at least 18 cases, commission investigators were able to locate evidence that had been officially declared lost or missing by other state agencies. Three of those cases resulted in exonerations, while some others confirmed the convictions (Weathered, 2013).
The innocence commission begins with a similar process to that of Canada and the United Kingdom. The first step is a preliminary assessment to assess whether an innocence claim has met certain criteria (Ford, 2015). The next stage is where the evidence is examined to see if there is any credible and factual evidence of innocence. After the case has been thoroughly investigated, the
The aspect of wrongful conviction is established within law to protect the innocent from being abused by the law. Nevertheless, the real issue of concern is the fact of whether wrongful conviction actually helps those who cannot help themselves. With that said, another important underlying factor is whether the criminal justice system has restrictions set up to help those from being innocently convicted and those who have been convicted and later was found to be innocent. By looking at the case of Guy Paul Morin, one will see how the police, courts, and criminal justice system failed in aiding the innocent and bringing justice in society, as well as showing that the system has failed in helping its people, and what must be done to aid those who have been wrongfully convicted.
This is demonstrated in the case of R v Rogerson and McNamara where two former police officers, Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara were convicted to life imprisonment based on the murder of Sydney student, Jamie Gao in 2014. Due to the nature of the law, the offenders presumption of innocence was upheld until their conviction in September 2016. Consequently, it created a tedious trial and sentencing process, where extortionate amounts of money were attributed to aspects, such as a judge and jury fees. Additionally, time is also a negative element in this instance where cases under the presumption of innocence, involve extensive hours of litigation and hence an increase in taxpayers
On January 23, 1995 Guy Paul Morin was exonerated of a first-degree murder conviction of Christine Jessop, ten years after his arrest and two lengthy criminal trials. This is a case where the justice system failed at all levels and has left the Ontario courts asking how it happened.
If that does not occur to the reader as an issue than factoring in the main problem of the topic where innocent people die because of false accusation will. In addition, this book review will include a brief review of the qualifications of the authors, overview of the subject and the quality of the book, and as well as my own personal thoughts on the book. In the novel Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make It Right authors Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer expose the flaws of the criminal justice system through case histories where innocent men were put behind bars and even on death row because of the miscarriages of justice. Initially, the text promotes and galvanizes progressive change in the legal
“Police throughout the United States have been caught fabricating, planting, and manipulating evidence to obtain convictions where cases would otherwise be very weak. Some authorities regard police perjury as so rampant that it can be considered a "subcultural norm rather than an individual aberration" of police officers. Large-scale investigations of police units in almost every major American city have documented massive evidence of tampering, abuse of the arresting power, and discriminatory enforcement of laws. There also appears to be widespread police perjury in the preparation of reports because police know these reports will be used in plea bargaining. Officers often justify false and embellished reports on the grounds that it metes out a rough justice to defendants who are guilty of wrongdoing but may be exonerated on technicalities.”
As police officers own right to carry out an investigation on the suspect, public arise concerning on negligent investigation. In the Hill v. Hamiton-Wentworth case, Mr. Hill was accused robbery and then was proved innocent. Mr. Hill filled a lawsuit against police officers on the tort of negligent investigation, and the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Hill’s appeal. Moreover, a majority of the court recognizes there is a tort of negligent investigation in Canada, but Mr. Hill was investigated under code of care and no tort of negligent investigation during his investigation. While the argument of minority believes the tort of negligent investigation should be recognized in Canada, and the police had been negligent, the argument of minority is more compelling than majority.
Subsequently, one of the main components of the procedural limitation is innocent until proven guilty, which brings about the right to a Grand Jury- a panel that determines whether or not there is a need to go to trial. As a result, a guilty verdict in criminal cases is determined with evidence that is sufficient and that must be proved “‘beyond a reasonable doubt’” (pg.131), so there is an immense need to increase the chances for the respect of “reasonable doubt” (pg.
Although the criminal justice system punishes those who have committed crimes against society, there are still flaws in the system that send innocent people to prison. Actual Innocence by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer, focuses on those problems connected to the incarceration of innocent people, as well as those who have been convicted and were ultimately exonerated. Confessions and racism are two major issues that are described in Actual Innocence that explain how these problems occur in our criminal justice system today and how innocent people are convicted of crimes.
“Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” clearly demonstrated the role of a prosecutor in the courtroom. Albeit in a negative manner, Hunter effectively bridged the functions of the police to the criminal justice process during the trial of Metcalfe (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014, p. 150). The murder trial of Metcalfe provided a frightening view of prosecutorial misconduct and unethical behavior of a prosecutor. Hunter betrayed the public he served by conspiring with Lieutenant Merchant to fabricate DNA evidence to ensure victory in the courtroom.
Psychological research and application have established that it is not only people with learning disability or major mental illness that are susceptible to make false confessions. In order for a confession to be false, a person must either confess to a crime that he or she is completely innocent of or overstate his or her involvement in the crime. False confessions can be either voluntary or coerced. Although it is methodologically difficult to establish the frequency of false confessions, anecdotal evidence such as self-reports and case studies indicate that reported cases are only the ‘tip of the iceberg’. It appears that young people are particularly vulnerable and often make false confessions in order to protect others. Standardized psychological tests have been devised in order to assess personality factors such as suggestibility and compliance that render some people more vulnerable than others. The reason people make false confessions is typically due to a combination of factors such as psychological vulnerabilities, nature of the custodial confinement and the police interviewing tactics. Notorious cases of false confessions which have lead to the wrongful convictions of innocent people subsequently spending years in prison represent some of the worst cases of miscarriage of justice in Britain. One such cases, that of Engin Raghip of the so-called ‘Tottenham three’ will be discussed in the context of admissibility of psychological evidence in order to demonstrate how the judiciary has increasingly come to accept the psychological notion that most people, under certain circumstances, are susceptible to making false confessions.
It seems as if much of society believes criminals are playing a game; rolling the dice to see what they can get away-with cat and mouse. It may appear to many, arrest and prosecution are somewhat random and arbitrary. Unfortunately, the general views on the criminal justice system seem sour. In particular, within the court system, these views are based on the idea defendants of means can and do beat charges with the ‘best defense money can buy’, while poorer defendants plead to charges and serve their sentences. Repeated exonerations using DNA evidence, highly publicized incidents involving police shootings, with unindicted officers have done little to discourage these
Wrongful convictions in Canada is a very sensitive and disturbing topic that has created concerns as to why individuals are being wrongfully convicted. As people in Canada read about cases involving wrongful conviction, such as Guy Paul Morin, Rubin Carter and David Millguard, it often undermines their faith in the criminal justice system. Tunnel vision, the use of questionable DNA evidence, and eyewitness misidentification are the three main causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Recognizing and addressing these concerns has led to a reduction in cases of wrongful convictions in Canada.
"Know the Cases." Innocence Project. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, n.d. Web. 1 Mar 2011. .
The relationship between law enforcement and prosecutors, which goes hand-in-hand, can’t be overlooked. Evidence of a crime that detectives and law enforcement discover is as equally important as a good trial on part of the prosecution. If detectives aren’t able to find good solid evidence – that case usually isn’t bothered in being pursued. Several years ago, in the late 80’s, there was a murder case in Southeastern Oklahoma which now serves as a tragic example to the need for honest, constitutional work in the criminal justice system. Disreputable investigative procedures, fraudulent sources, and bad evidence were the foundation of this case that shattered innocent lives.
criminals escape justice, whether it is because of a cold case or botched police work, and hunts