Sociology 3312A/B Final: WRONGFULLY-CONVICTED-EXAM
17 Apr 2018
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Factual innocence: distinct from legal innocence, legal innocence: a defendant who is acquitted by a judge/jury after having a trial, factual innocence: does not matter what stage the criminal proceeding is in. If a person is factually innocent, it means they did not commit the alleged crime of which they were charged/convicted. Issues of race, gender, class, age, mental illness/disability: forensic evidence, circumstantial evidence, falsified evidence, hidden/withheld evidence, prior record, tunnel vision, eyewitness testimony. Interrogation tactics: bias of police - need a conviction, marginalization, wrong time/wrong place, pressure on police to convict, ability of afford good defense. Lawyer: no pre-trail, poor evidence collection, convicting the most plausible suspect, should be guilty beyond a. Informants - plea deal for testimony against defendant - rewards for info: pretrial publicity of case, bias of lawyer - want to win case. Notorious cases: dreyfus case french captain charged with selling military secrets germans in oct 1894.
