Lessons Not Learned - The Innocence Project

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Forensic databases were developed to help solve crimes and apprehend perpetrators. They have done that in cases in New York where innocent people were wrongfully convicted – and a simple clarification in state law will ensure that these databases are used to their greatest potential. Video Record Custodial Interrogations in Their entirety Video equipment is commonplace, easy to operate, and inexpensive – yet New York juries must still rely on competing accounts from police and defendants about what actually happened during an interrogation. New York’s Legislature should mandate the recording of custodial interrogation to reduce wrongful convictions. For the recording of interrogations to be effective, the entire custodial interrogation must be recorded. This record will improve the credibility and reliability of authentic confessions, while protecting the rights of innocent suspects. Recorded interrogations provide judges and jurors with the best evidence of what was said during an interrogation. For law enforcement agencies, recording interrogations can prevent disputes about how a suspect was treated, create a clear record of a suspect’s statements and increase public confidence in the criminal justice system. As former U.S. Attorney Tom Sullivan detailed in a 2005 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology article, “Electronic Recording of Custodial Interrogations: Everybody Wins,” over 350 jurisdictions nationwide have embraced the practice of recording custodial interrogations, and the number continues to rapidly climb. (According to Sullivan, that number is now over 500.) The report finds that “virtually every officer with whom we spoke, having given custodial recordings a try, was enthusiastically in favor of the practice.” New York’s Division of Criminal Justice Services recently provided $1.2 million to jurisdictions statewide for video recording equipment. In addition, a grant has been awarded to the Criminal Justice Section of the New York State Bar Association to help conduct pilot programs in two counties, Broome and Schenectady, for the recording of custodial interrogations. These developments show that preventing false confessions is a priority for New York. However, to truly be suc- 28 THe InnoCenCe PRoJeCT
THe LeARnInG cessful, New York should also join Illinois, Maine, New Mexico and Wisconsin, all of which have passed statewide legislation mandating the recording of custodial interrogations. enact no new Limits on Court Consideration of Claims of Innocence It takes years for the wrongfully convicted to prove their innocence since they can only locate the evidence and access the courts from their prison cells. Enacting time limits on innocence claims slams shut the door to justice. Recent proposals in the New York Legislature to limit “innocence claims” to one year after conviction patently ignore the fact that each exoneration requires years of work. The cause of justice will suffer a terrible setback if the innocent are capriciously prevented from accessing the courts to prove their innocence. Successfully proving innocence post-conviction is an arduous task, but on those rare occasions it is possible, it would be wrong to deny a wrongfully convicted person the ability to prove his innocence and regain his freedom. Implement eyewitness Identification Reforms Eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions, but it has not been addressed by New York’s Legislature. The Legislature should require that law enforcement agencies implement simple reforms that are proven to increase the accuracy of eyewitness identifications. The prevalence of eyewitness misidentification has spurred tremendous research on reforming traditional eyewitness procedures. Social science research has proven that procedural reforms can greatly increase the accuracy of eyewitness identifications, while also protecting the innocent. This is particularly important, as in many cases the eyewitness identification is the only evidence available to indicate innocence or guilt. In light of recommendations from the National Institute of Justice and the American Bar Association, states such as New Jersey, North Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as individual cities and towns throughout the country, have implemented these reforms. Other 29
Page 1 and 2: Lessons n o t learned neW YoRK sTAT
Page 3 and 4: exeCUTIVe sUMMARY Throughout New Yo
Page 5 and 6: Despite the large number of DNA exo
Page 7 and 8: 23 CAses AnD THeIR ConseqUenCes: A
Page 9 and 10: 8 Hector Gonzalez - Brooklyn Convic
Page 11 and 12: 18 Doug Warney - Rochester Convicte
Page 13 and 14: TRYInG To ReBUILD THeIR LIVes All o
Page 15 and 16: ReAL PeRPeTRAToRs CoMMIT ADDITIonAL
Page 17 and 18: THe Lessons THe Lessons CAUses oF W
Page 19 and 20: THe Lessons • The victim identifi
Page 21 and 22: THe Lessons • County rape in 1987
Page 23 and 24: THe Lessons • victed of the 1989
Page 25 and 26: THe LeARnInG THe LeARnInG LeGIsLATI
Page 27: THe LeARnInG Allow All of the Wrong
Page 31 and 32: THe LeARnInG Convictions, composed
Page 33 and 34: FInDInGs oF THe CoMMIssIon The comm
Page 35 and 36: ReCoMMenDATIons oF THe CoMMIssIon A
Page 37 and 38: ConCLUsIon time to research for evi
Page 39 and 40: APPenDIx A APPenDIx A FULL PRoFILes
Page 41 and 42: APPenDIx A ecution for DNA testing
Page 43 and 44: APPenDIx A process. On July 18, 199
Page 45 and 46: APPenDIx A The initial description
Page 47 and 48: APPenDIx A and if it was still avai
Page 49 and 50: APPenDIx A The following year, all
Page 51 and 52: APPenDIx A Eventually, the evidence
Page 53 and 54: APPenDIx A On December 19, 2002, on
Page 55 and 56: APPenDIx A On the night of April 19
Page 57 and 58: APPenDIx A His chance to test the e
Page 59 and 60: APPenDIx A defenses. Prosecutors al
Page 61 and 62: APPenDIx A suggested she had been r
Page 63 and 64: APPenDIx A from the defendants pres
Page 65 and 66: APPenDIx A brother’s moving busin
Page 67 and 68: APPenDIx A days or weeks. The bandi
Page 69 and 70: APPenDIx A While the case was being
Page 71 and 72: APPenDIx A watching television, he
Page 73 and 74: APPenDIx A The Office of the Chief
Page 75 and 76: APPenDIx A Deskovic’s alleged con
Page 77 and 78: APPenDIx A consistent” with Brown
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APPenDIx B APPenDIx B RePoRT on THe
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RePoRT on ConVICTIon oF JeFFReY Des
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RePoRT on ConVICTIon oF JeFFReY Des
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scientific evidence exonerated him.
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It is, of course, theoretically pos
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· · a murder that he did not comm
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wholly unsupported by anything poli
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investigative reports strongly sugg
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interrogations of Deskovic on Janua
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a confession. 44 During part of thi
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emained steadfast. Finally, on Janu
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Deskovic’s knowledge of Correa’
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As it was, the Grand Jury was denie
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he was aware, as the jury was not,
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On this record, the trial judge may
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without his attorney. 112 There is
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Court’s Mid-trial Loss of Evidenc
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arrested. District Attorney DiFiore
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occasions a voice tape recorder was
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The Innocence Project was founded i
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Lessons Not Learned - The Innocence Project

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