Wrongful Convictions 101

What are wrongful convictions? How common is this problem? When a person is convicted of a they did not Studies suggest 4 – 6% of people incarcerated in US commit, it is a wrongful conviction. prisons are innocent.

These are cases of actual In Georgia, that means over innocence. 2,100 people are in prison for that they did not DNA testing has scientifically commit. proven the innocence of over 360 people convicted for crimes they This estimate does not include did not commit. people in jail for misdemeanors. Actual innocence cases magnify flaws in the criminal justice system. By taking steps to remedy and prevent 1 of every 18 people in Georgia is under some form of wrongful convictions, we improve the justice system for correctional control (the highest rate in the country). everyone. How many of those people are innocent?

What factors contribute to wrongful convictions?

Eyewitness Official Invalid Forensic Perjury/False False Incentivized Inadequate Misidentification Misconduct Accusation Confession Testimony Defense

Why does it matter? Did you know innocence is not enough? Wrongful convictions erode faith in the criminal justice You have no constitutional right to release from prison system. The original victim never receives justice, and a even if scientific evidence definitively proves you did new, innocent victim is not commit the crime. created. There are people sitting in Georgia prisons today Communities are put at risk despite compelling post-conviction DNA evidence of when actual perpetrators their innocence. remain free to commit other crimes. Why? Because past a certain point, our legal system DNA identified values finality over over 160 actual perpetrators who committed over 150 innocence and truth. additional violent crimes (including 35 murders) while the innocent persons were imprisoned. Legislation can change this.

Donate: Online | georgiainnocence.org/donate; Phone | 404-373-4433; Mail | 50 Hurt Plaza SE, Suite 350; Atlanta GA 30303 Wrongful Convictions 201

Snapshot: Racial Bias Snapshot: Confirmation Bias Wrongful convictions disproportionately affect black Confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret new Americans, as this chart shows. In addition, 88% of information in ways that support one’s existing beliefs. minors later exonerated by DNA testing are black. It’s also called tunnel vision.

In a criminal investigation, this often takes the form of focusing on one suspect to the exclusion of all others.

Confirmation bias can cause officers to rate evidence that suggests innocence as less relevant or credible than evidence that suggests guilt.

Data: US Census Bureau, National Registry of Exonerations What steps help remedy the problem of wrongful convictions?

Record all Disclose Reduce public Strengthen Impose Enhance standards Improve evidence custodial incentives; defender eyewitness ID consequences for for forensic preservation laws interrogations in corroborate caseloads; legislation official misconduct testimony their entirety testimony increase funding

What role do play? What happens after ? Prosecutors hold immense power in our criminal justice When a person is exonerated, one struggle ends, and system. another begins.

Especially when actual Georgia is one of only a few innocence is not enough, states that has no compensation prosecutors must uphold law for the wrongfully justice and integrity, not merely convicted. Exonerees are uphold convictions. released from prison with no support from the state, and no Our justice system is not social security reserves. perfect. Mistakes will be made. Georgia’s exonerees must privately petition the state’s What matters is how prosecutors respond to those legislature for compensation, resulting in amounts and mistakes. conditions that are often inconsistent.

Donate: Online | georgiainnocence.org/donate; Phone | 404-373-4433; Mail | 50 Hurt Plaza SE, Suite 350; Atlanta GA 30303