Wrongful convictions spotlighted

Proving someone innocent of a crime through DNA or other means after a conviction shows flaws in our justice system.

Many remain reluctant to face those flaws and correct them because they'd rather write off those who are wrongfully convicted as "collateral damage" in the war for law and order, said a panel of legal experts during a symposium at the University of Utah on wrongful convictions.

The two-day symposium, held Thursday and Friday at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, focused on helping those who have been wrongfully convicted through legislation and a shift in attitudes among courts and prosecutors on the issue of convicting the innocent.

"Sometimes the system does not correct the errors in the capital system," said Susan Bandes, law professor at DePaul University College of Law. Bandes said that after a conviction, it's difficult to get the public to be moved or care about injustices or to feel empathy for "flawed individuals" because they don't conform to the "good guys and bad guys" model of justice.

Panelists argued that people must see beyond those who may have a criminal past but who were accused of murders they didn't commit.

Bandes argued that often in stories about someone wrongfully accused, prosecutorial misconduct is blamed on isolated individuals or "rogues" as part of the government's desire to "force blame downward" rather than draw attention to more systemic problems. She cited the prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse rape case as an example.

"Everybody makes mistakes," said George C. Thomas III, professor of law at Rutgers University, but "sometimes prosecutors lose sight of innocence."

Driven by a "fierce loyalty to a version of events" or simply by the pride of getting a strong conviction record, Thomas said, prosecutors can sometimes push for a plea bargain to a crime they know a defendant didn't commit.

In a world where so few criminal cases go to trial but are rather pressured into plea deal negotiations, the issue is of concern, said Ronald Wright Jr., executive associate dean for academic affairs at Wake Forest University.

Wright said there are some efforts among prosecutors to revive a sense of justice for those truly innocent of crimes. One district attorney in California offers cash rewards to employees who come forward with evidence proving someone is innocent.