We know that the justice system gets it wrong. People are convicted of crimes that they never committed in the first place. Many of them serve years or even decades behind bars.
Thankfully, some of these individuals have been exonerated. This is often done with the use of DNA evidence, which has been a factor since the 1980s. Someone may be convicted of sexual assault, for example, but an analysis of DNA evidence at a later date shows that another person committed the crime, and that the individual who was convicted was innocent. They can be released and have their record expunged.
Why do these wrongful convictions happen?
The most common reason for a wrongful conviction is an inaccurate eyewitness account. This is not true in every case, but it happens in the majority of them. An eyewitness makes a misidentification mistake, claiming that someone was responsible for the criminal activity when they aren’t.
There are many reasons why this happens. In some cases, the eyewitness did not have a good view. In other cases, they may have simply made a mistake because everything happened very quickly and unexpectedly. It is not as if the eyewitness was expecting to witness a crime that day, and they may not have been paying close attention. If a weapon is involved, eyewitnesses often focus so intently on the weapon that they do not actually get a good look at the person’s face.
No matter why it happens, this helps to show just how important it is for defendants to understand all of their rights and criminal defense options to avoid a wrongful conviction.