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Chapter 9 Study Guide PowerPoint 8 Notes Definitions of Innocence 11 08 2015 What does Innocent Mean for someone convicted of a crime o It means that now the role is reversed o They are now guilty until proven not guilty o If you are convicted of a crime the burden of proof is reversed Innocence defined o 1 Individuals who were completely uninvolved in the crime for which they were convicted or the person was convicted for a crime that did not occur but they have now been legally exonerated o 2 Individuals that most independent experts believe were completely uninvolved in the crime for which they were convicted or they were convicted for a crime that did not occur but they have not been officially exonerated Example would be someone convicted of capital rape when capital rape was a crime even though sexual relations were consensual or defendants convicted of capital murder even though the victim was alive o 3 Individuals who were granted a new trial by a state or federal court and they were prosecuted and found not guilty at this trial o 4 Individuals whose case was sent back to a lower court by a higher court for a new trial and the state dropped the charges and dismissed the defendant o 5 Individual was involved in the act of homicide but it was either an accident or self defense not murder or manslaughter o 6 Individual was not a direct participant in the death but was a participant in some part of the crime although perhaps unknowingly He she did not know the death would occur or wanted to prevent it but was unable to do so o 7 Individual was guilty of murder but there was no premeditation or malice or forethought and the crime did not justify a charge of 1st degree Murder o 8 Individual was guilty of 1st degree murder but there was not an aggravating factor to elevate it to a death eligible offense or if the mitigating factors had been properly presented they would have out weighed the aggravating factors In order to be included on the Exonerated List o Defendants must have been convicted sentenced to death and subsequently either A Been acquitted by a court of all charges related to the crime that placed them on death row or B Had all charges related to the crime that placed them on death row dismissed by the prosecution or C Been granted a complete pardon by the Governor Reasons an Innocent Person Can Be on Death Row based on evidence of innocence False Confessions o Freely Volunteered False Confessions o Interrogation produced false confessions o Interrogation produced compliant false confessions o Interrogation produced internalized false confessions o Interrogation Produced Fake False Confessions Faulty Eyewitness Identification o Estimator variables Characteristics of witnesses Characteristics of observed event o System variables Lineup instructions Lineup composition Administrator knowledge of suspects identity Lineup presentation Multiple presentations of suspect Junk Science o Invalidated or improper forensic science methods o Misconduct by forensic scientists Improper police investigation Dishonest informants Police misconduct Prosecutorial misconduct Judicial misconduct Incompetent Poor or Bad Defense Attorneys Inappropriate Expert Witnesses Book Notes Miscarriages of Justice in Pre Gregg 1976 Capital Cases Borchards Research o Edwin Borchard published Convicting the Innocent which exposed for the 1st time how frequently wrongful convictions occurred in US Criminal Justice System Post Gregg Capital Cases 1976 Despite Super Due Process According to research by Bedau and Radelet there has been an average of 6 or 7 discovered wrongful convictions in capital cases per year o Its about the same as the one for the prior period Reasons prosecutors might not re try a case o The prosecutor was barred from using some of the evidence against the defendant by the appellate court o Incriminating evidence against the defendant was misplaced or destroyed o Witnesses against the defendant often coperpertrators either have or have not received the prosecutors incentive to testify and thus have no incentive to testify again o Key prosecution witnesses cannot be found or are deceased o Because of the passage of time prosecution witnesses may have trouble recalling what occurred thus injecting doubt in the prosecutions case o The public may no longer support a prosecution because their feelings about the case have changed or they are no longer interested Errors In Capital Cases prejudicial errors Two general types of errors harmless errors and serious or o Serious or prejudicial error one that can be shown by the defendant to have likely affected the outcome of the trial or to be the type of error that generally results in reversals the error has to be properly preserved o Harmless error one which by proof beyond a reasonable doubt did not contribute to the verdict o Appellate courts will only reverse convictions and sentences only for serious or prejudicial errors that have been properly preserved Chapman Rule Chapman v California o Violations of a defendants rights do not require remedy reversal of conviction or sentence unless the error or errors are serious or prejudicial Serious or prejudicial errors are properly preserved when State Level o Meets the criteria of the direct appeals stage o Involves a state or federal constitutional issue o Was not or could not have been raised on direct appeal Serious or prejudicial errors are properly preserved when federal habeas corpus stage o Meets the criteria of the direct appeals stage o Violates the federal Constitution o Does not involve the 4th amendments exclusionary rule o Is not based on a new rule of federal law if litigated in 1989 or later o If litigated in 1993 or thereafter meets an especially high standard of prejudice or harmful error that the error had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury s verdict Why Wrongful Convictions Occur in Capital Cases Shoddy Investigation and Misconduct by the Police o Many wrongful convictions are due to shoddy investigation by the police who sometimes identify the wrong person as the criminal This is the critical stage where most errors occur o Dry labbing the practice of crime laboratory technicians fabricating results to support police suspicions without ever testing the evidence Example misinterpreting evidence or testifying improperly in court Eyewitness Misidentification and Perjury by Prosecution Witnesses o Eyewitness misidentification is the most


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FSU CCJ 4938r - Definitions of Innocence

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