ervatives | About the
ncerned| Death Penalty
A Project of EJUS
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info@conservativesconcerned.org
Innocent Lives in the Balance
The real risk of executing the innocent
Since 1973, over 140 people have been freed from death row after evidence of
innocence revealed that they had been wrongfully convicted. That's almost one
person exonerated for every ten who've been executed. Wrongful convictions rob
innocent people of decades of their lives, waste tax dollars, and re-traumatize the
victim's family, while the people responsible remain unaccountable.
What we have learned in the DNA era
¢ Hundreds of DNA exonerations reveal that murder cases are often
riddled with problems: mistaken eyewitnesses, bad lawyers, shoddy
forensics, unreliable jailhouse snitches, coerced confessions, and more.
¢ DNA cannot solve these problems — it can only tell us how bad they
are. DNA evidence exists in just 5-10% of criminal cases — far fewer
than one would think from TV crime shows like CSI.
* In those few cases where DNA evidence is available, courts can
block access to DNA testing even when it could exonerate someone.
Furthermore, scientific evidence is only as good as the people doing
the testing — and crime labs from Baltimore to Oklahoma City have
come under fire for errors and even fraud in their forensics.
CASE IN POINT
Ray Krone was sentenced to death for rape and murder in Arizona even
though DNA found on the victim did not match him. The state argued against
having the DNA submitted to the database since the jury found him guilty
even without physical evidence. A decade later, a crime lab worker ran the
DNA through a database on his own, without a court order, and uncovered the
identity of the person who actually committed the crime.
Despite the best intentions, we can't be right
100% of the time
¢ ‘The risk of executing an innocent person is not limited to cases of
incompetence or corruption. Despite their best efforts, human beings
are imperfect. In a capital case, even one small mistake can be deadly.
* Contrary to popular belief, the appeals process is not designed to
catch cases of innocence. It is simply to determine whether the
“Despite the best
intentions of law
enforcement,
prosecutors, defense
attorneys, judges and
jurors, innocent people
have been convicted and
sentenced to death. The
margin for error with
the death penalty is too
great.”
— Former CA Police Chief
Ray Samuels
original trial was conducted properly. Most exonerations came only “I spent 17 years, eight
because of the extraordinary efforts of people working outside the months and one day
system — pro bono lawyers, family members, even students. on death row. | was not
saved by the system.
| was saved in spite of
the system.”
~ Juan Roberto Meléndez
exonerated in Florida
* One of most comprehensive state death penalty studies in the nation in 2002
recommended 85 reforms that were essential to decrease the risk
¢ Wrongfully convicted people have spent up to 33 years on death row,
or come within hours of execution, before the truth came to light.
Any effort to streamline the death penalty process or cut appeals will
only increase the risk that an innocent person is executed.
of wrongful executions. Not a single death penalty state has even a
majority of those reforms in place.
The wrong man: Stories of a broken system
¢ Frank Lee Smith was sentenced to death in Florida on the testimony
of a single witness. No physical evidence tied him to the crime. Four
years later, the same witness saw a photo of a different man and
realized she had made a mistake. DNA tests later confirmed that
Smith was innocent, but it was too late. He had died in prison of
pancreatic cancer.
* Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Texas in 2004 for setting
fire to his home, killing his three children. Experts now say that
the arson theories used in the investigation are scientifically invalid.
Willingham may very well have been executed for an accidental fire.
* Gary Gauger was sentenced to die in Illinois for the murder of his
parents. Police questioned him for 18 hours, depriving him of sleep,
food, or drink. They convinced him that he had blacked out and
that’s why he didn’t remember killing his parents. He was sentenced
to die on the basis of this “confession.” An unrelated investigation
later uncovered the people who actually committed the crime, and
Gauger was exonerated.
¢ Kirk Bloodsworth, a former U.S. marine, was sentenced to death in
1985 for the murder of nine-year-old Dawn Hamilton in Maryland.
He proclaimed his innocence from the start but when he was granted
a new trial his prosecutors withheld evidence and his second trial also
resulted in conviction. From jail Bloodsworth found out about a new
innovation in genetic fingerprinting. He persuaded his lawyer to try
to get it. They did and, after nine years in prison, Kirk Bloodsworth
became the first death row inmate exonerated by DNA.
We've learned a lot about the death penalty in the last 30 years. We now know
that innocent people are sentenced to die. When a life is on the line, one mistake is
one too many. Can we afford the risk?
Conservatives | About the A project of Equal Justice USA
Concerned | Death Penalty www.conservativesconcerned.org _info@conservativesconcerned.org
