In June of 2004, Clemente Aguirre, a 24 year old immigrant from Honduras, was arrested for the murder of his friends and next door neighbors in Sanford, Florida. During his 2006 trial, very limited evidence was ever presented to prove his guilt, with the prosecution propping up their arguments on bloody clothes Clemente had provided to the police himself after discovering the scene of the murder. Despite this limited evidence, Clemente was sentenced to death by the state of Florida and spent the next 14 years of his life behind bars, before finally being exonerated by the Florida Supreme Court after previously ignored DNA evidence was finally allowed to be tested. Yet even after being let free, the state of Florida launched an entire second law suit against Clemente, once again attempting to prove his guilt in the exact same murder. Stories like Mr. Aguirre’s are horrific, yet most of us likely take comfort in assuming such cases aren't all that common. Unfortunately these widely held beliefs are wrong, and it is estimated that upwards of 230,000 people incarcerated today were wrongfully convicted. How does this happen? Isn’t our judicial system supposed to be foolproof, supported by hard facts, and the notion that everyone is “innocent until proven guilty? This article means to dive into this subject, and review some of the contributing factors that have led to America’s issue with wrongful conviction.
So why has it become so common for individuals to be convicted of a crime without proper evidence? While most of us likely view things such as DNA evidence as foolproof, and leave judgments on accurate crime scene investigations to the “experts,” it may come as a surprise to you that not all the evidence admissible in court can truly be written off as fool proof. Groups, such as the Innocence Project, have spent a large amount of time drawing attention to these “junk sciences,” showing how commonly accepted investigative strategies- such as teeth mark analysis, arson/fire research, and even hair comparisons-- are subject to extremely subjective understandings, and don’t hold the burden of evidence we should expect to be presented in the courtroom setting. In fact, 45% of wrongful convictions later proven faulty by real DNA evidence were directly correlated with the presentation of these misapplied forensics “sciences.” Though some states have made laws attempting to protect accused individuals from the abuse of misunderstood sciences, this is one of the largest issues that continues to contribute to wrongful convictions.
Outside of forensics however, wrongful convictions occur as a result of failure on the governmental level. All too often, it’s misconduct, unfair treatment, and even corruption that leads to the conviction of defendants without proper evidence. Such issues are additionally exacerbated by lawyers who urge clients to take a plea bargain due to the lack of a proper monetary incentive, or an unrealistic amount of case work placed in front of public defenders.
Whether it be through faulty forensics, or government failure, there is no question that the terrifying recurrence of wrongful convictions is an issue that must be tackled head on by our judiciary. Without further action, thousands more will suffer, and justice will continue to be delayed.
For further information and links to how you can begin to get involved in this issue, I highly recommend checking out the Innocence Project.
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