SOC 3490 Lecture : March 12.docx

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 3490
• Professor: Scott Brandon

Document Summary

Wrongful convictions: ovl: sees the law as impartial, equal, fair- wrongful convictions should never happen but ovl tries to excuse when it does happen. The public isn"t always aware of how many wrongful cases there are, especially the minor cases: defining wrongful convictions. Individual has no connection at all to the crime. Convicted of a felony that they are later found innocent of. Sources can vary: jury selection, forensics, faulty dna, false convection, evidence held. Innocent but through police investigation are found guilty for various reasons back that could exonerate the individual: people most likely to be targets. This is used to lead to convictions. Mistakes in eyewitness identification are the most common reason of wrongful convictions. The person identifying usually honestly believes it is the offender but there is problems with memory and individuals who look similar. Done through: live line ups, photo spreads, mug shorts, composites, sketches.