Week 1: Overview Flashcards
Explain the innocence project and the general stats
People volunteer their time to investigate cases of suspected wrongful convictions.
367 cases of proven innocence highlighting the worth of this investigation - in approx 50% of these cases, the real perpetrator was caught. 70% were black/Hispanic. 21 people released from death row.
These people averaged 14 years in prison - each wrongful conviction deprived an innocent person of a significant proportion of their lives.
Why isn’t DNA a safeguard against miscarriages of justice?
DNA is simply not available for most cases. Only certain types of crimes will provide genetic evidence (crimes that involve relatively close interpersonal contact - which lots don’t meaning chances of DNA is slim)
When we do get DNA, often it is not sufficient enough to allow for testing as you need large samples.
What is the most persuasive form of evidence?
Eyewitness identification
Can result in wrongful convictions and is the leading cause
Why do people confess to crimes they did not commit?
- interviewing techniques
- psychological factors
Both prompt an innocent person to confess
Explain white coat syndrome?
Most people are aware that they aren’t experts- so they refer to an authority figure (scientist) who aren’t always great at presenting information.
This is a problem for communicating and interpreting evidence