SOC 3490 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Innocence Project, Guy Paul Morin, Claustrophobia
9 Nov 2016
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Cases where people are wrongfully convicted of a felony case and they are later found innocent beyond reasonable doubt. *due to dna, confessions from the real offender, new evidence is brought forth, evidence that the police have brought forth. Ethnic minorities, those from rural areas, those with mental illnesses, the homeless and borderline mentally challenged are most likely to be targeted. Stems from the adversarial nature of the court system. The idea of truth telling: truth will always set you free (believes you will not be wrongfully convicted: the prevalence of wrongful convictions. Canada has a 60% conviction rate in the criminal court. Innocence project: 50% of people who contact the innocence project are not guilty: causes: eyewitness identi cation. Used 80% a wrongful conviction is tied to eyewitness identi cation. Done through; live line-ups, photo spreads, mug shots, composites. Mostly due to human error; may believe they are picking the right person.
