On January 20, 1984, Earl Washington--defended for all of forty minutes by a lawyer who had never tried a death penalty case--was found guilty of rape and murder in the state of Virginia and sentenced to death. After nine years on death row, DNA testing cast doubt on his conviction and saved his life. However, he spent another eight years in prison before more sophisticated DNA technology proved his innocence and convicted the guilty man. DNA exonerations have shattered confidence in the criminal justice system by exposing ...
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On January 20, 1984, Earl Washington--defended for all of forty minutes by a lawyer who had never tried a death penalty case--was found guilty of rape and murder in the state of Virginia and sentenced to death. After nine years on death row, DNA testing cast doubt on his conviction and saved his life. However, he spent another eight years in prison before more sophisticated DNA technology proved his innocence and convicted the guilty man. DNA exonerations have shattered confidence in the criminal justice system by exposing how often we have convicted the innocent and let the guilty walk free. In this unsettling in-depth analysis, Brandon Garrett examines what went wrong in the cases of the first 250 wrongfully convicted people to be exonerated by DNA testing. Based on trial transcripts, Garrett's investigation into the causes of wrongful convictions reveals larger patterns of incompetence, abuse, and error. Evidence corrupted by suggestive eyewitness procedures, coercive interrogations, unsound and unreliable forensics, shoddy investigative practices, cognitive bias, and poor lawyering illustrates the weaknesses built into our current criminal justice system. Garrett proposes practical reforms that rely more on documented, recorded, and audited evidence, and less on fallible human memory. Very few crimes committed in the United States involve biological evidence that can be tested using DNA. How many unjust convictions are there that we will never discover? Convicting the Innocent makes a powerful case for systemic reforms to improve the accuracy of all criminal cases.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in fine jacket. Hardcover. warm, lenghty inscription by the author on the title page. First printing. Fine in fine dust jacket. 367 pp. with index. Based on trial transcripts, the author's ionvestigation into the causes of wrongful convictions reveals larger patterns of incompetence, abuse and error. Evidence corrupted by suggestive eyewitness procedures, coercive interrogations, unsound and unreliable forensics, shoddy investigative practices, cognitive bias, and poor lawyering illustrate the weaknesses built into our currentr criminal justice system. Garrett proposes practical reforms that rely more on documented, recorded, and audited evidence and less on fallible human memory.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Fair. This item is worn. Signs of wear may include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents and worn corners. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy number of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
A suberb book. Well researched and documented, and a "must read" for all criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, police officers and judges. The author summarizes the reasons for the irroneous criminal prosecutions over the past 30 years, listing the principal reasons behind the first 250 DNA exonerations. A valuable pre-trial research tool for defense attorneys. This book should be mandatory reading for all newly-hired prosecutors since their mandate is not merely to secure convictions, but to seek justice. I couldn't put it down, and after reading it I ordered 2 additional volumes to have as loaners to colleagues. A welcomed additional to the field of Criminal Justice.
