NCJ Number
223971
Date Published
2006
Length
166 pages
Annotation
This report presents the resolutions of the American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) Ad Hoc Innocence Committee, which were developed over the course of 3 years of an extensive review of the causes for wrongful convictions and the crafting of policies designed to prevent individuals from being convicted of crimes they did not commit and to compensate those who are exonerated.
Abstract
The Committee’s drafted resolutions and accompanying reports have been adopted by the ABA House of Delegates. This report presents each resolution and a discussion of why the resolution is important in helping to prevent wrongful convictions. The first resolution pertains to systemic remedies for wrongful convictions. Two systemic issues are addressed: postconviction adjudication of claims of innocence in individual cases and the creation of governmental entities charged with identifying the causes of wrongful convictions and proposing reforms for preventing such convictions in the future. The second resolution, which focuses on false confessions, urges all law enforcement agencies to videotape the entirety of custodial interrogations of suspects or, at the very least, to audiotape the entirety of custodial interrogations when videotaping is impractical. The third resolution addresses the use of practices and procedures that will promote the accuracy of eyewitness identification. This is followed by a resolution that pertains to ensuring the validity, reliability, and timely analysis of forensic evidence by crime laboratories and medical examiner offices, as well as the informed and competent handling of this evidence at trial. The fifth resolution pertains to ensuring that no prosecution should occur based solely upon uncorroborated “jailhouse informant” testimony. Three resolutions focus on ways to prevent wrongful convictions by improving the knowledge, skill, and practices of defense counsel, investigative policies and personnel, and prosecuting attorneys. Compensation for the wrongfully convicted is addressed in the final resolution. Appended supplementary information and list of additional resources