Ninteen Years Gone: Using DNA Testing to Catch the Crimals Essay

Possley, Maurice. "Christopher Abernathy - National Registry of Exonerations."Christopher Abernathy - National Registry of Exonerations. Umich, 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.

As strong as Avery’s alibi was, the victim’s identification prompted his sentence of thirty-two years in prison.

Once a long sixteen years were over for McCormick, the case reopened, McCormick was granted a new trial, the DNA testing was proved false, and a criminal court jury found McCormick not guilty of all charges for the murder of Nichols. McCormick, who was fifty-five years old at the time of the new trial, was now a free man. After the trial, McCormick stated, “I hope they get the right person and convict them. I had nothing to do with it.”

A failure in the justice system had taken place. Kirk Bloodsworth was the first person to be exonerated based off of DNA evidence. During the course of the investigation it was shown the detectives should not have allowed the two boys to be together during the creation of the suspects sketch. The prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence, namely evidence of other suspects; albeit, the suspects were not involved in the murders, they could have helped sway the jury decision. Allowing witnesses to see images of Bloodsworth prior to a line-up also proved detrimental. Inept defense lawyers allowing for the absence of alibi witnesses also weakened his efforts. Detective Capal had wrongly testified about Bloodsworth’s afore knowledge of the murder

Being wrongly accused of a crime and sent to prison for years is something people would not think of happening to them on any day. However, it does occur. Two men, Richard Alexander and Kirk Bloodsworth were accused of a crime and sent to prison. Both of these men were exonerated through genetic DNA testing years later.

Melley, Brian. "Man is cleared after 16 years; DNA ties crimes to fugitves." Miami Herald 24 November 2015: 12A.

In general, there are several factors that can cause wrongful conviction and later exoneration. One factor is a false confession. As authors Earl Smith and Angela J. Hattery stated in their journal that a false confession can be caused by individual

Due to doubts surrounding the forensic evidence in this case it may have led the jurors to have reasonable doubt regarding returning a guilty verdict ("Forensic Analysis of the Casey Anthony Trial - Crime Museum", 2017). The jurors finally found Casey Anthony guilty of aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child ("Forensic Analysis of the Casey Anthony Trial - Crime Museum",

Using the example of the case of Damon Thibodaux, he was taken for questioning after a girl who they were last seen with went missing. She was found strangled and naked (Leo, 2008). A homicide officer took over the case, and Thibodaux was interrogated for several hours. Although Thibodaux repeatedly said he knew nothing about the murder, the interrogation kept going, eventually the officer was able to record a statement from Thibodaux pleading guilty of consensual and non-consensual sex with the victim, beating, and assassinating her. Thibodaux was condemned to death, and was to spend fifteen years on death row and sixteen years in jail before DNA examination confirmed that he was not guilty (Kassin, 2013). Thibodauxs exoneration proceeding concluded that fatigue and exhaustion from the overnight search for the girl, the long interrogation, psychological vulnerability, and fear of the death penalty led to the false confession by Thibodaux (Leo, 2008). This case is a great example of

In March of 1985, Bloodsworth was sentenced to death. Through it all Bloodsworth maintained his innocence and in 1993 with the help of a new technique used to test for DNA, Bloodsworth got his chance to prove he was innocent. Bloodsworth became the first person ever to be exonerated from death row by DNA evidence. (Jain, 2001) In one

In October of 2001 John Taylor was arrested for the murder of Leanne Tiernan due to the abundance of evidence that was found in regards to her murder. Due to the study of the pollen they were able to clearly say Leanne was at John Taylor’s place for certain. John Taylor was later given 2 more life convictions for 2 rapes he committed and they were able to say that he did them because of DNA

DNA exonerations are very common. So much so that in the United States alone, there have been “317 post-conviction DNA exonerations” (2014). The very first DNA exoneration dated back to 1989. The Innocence Project examined these DNA exonerations and found that “8 of the 317 people exonerated through DNA served time on death row. Another 16 were charged with capital crimes but not sentenced to death” (2014). More so, the average time served was about 13.5 years, and the average age was 27 (2014). This means that before the age of

Due to the interview taking place after hours and the case not being assigned until the following day, I was unable to be present at the time of the interview. However, I have since observed a copy of that interview. The following is a summary of the forensic interview conducted that night by Megan Merrill with Deja Jones. This is a summary, not an exact transcript.

What is most interesting about this story is that it exposes a flawed justice system. The police did a reasonably good job of investigating the murder scene, but right away they focused their attention on two men without solid evidence. The obvious suspect would have been the last person seen alive with the victim, someone who knew the victim and thus could gain access easily to her apartment, and definitely someone who had argued with the victim the night she was murdered (Thornburgh 28). There were many valid clues pointing to other suspects. Instead, the police convinced themselves early on that Ron Williamson was their killer. After five years when they were unable to solve the crime, and with pressure mounting, they pieced together a paper

On the other hand, the case of Daniel Taylor, who was convicted of murdering two people also, had a solid Alibi with paperwork and witnesses to support his alibi it seemed almost impossible for the jury to find him guilty. But on “December morning in 1992, 17 year old gang member, Daniel, confessed to a double murder committed two weeks earlier in the Uptown neighborhood. (Chicago Tribune)”. The case was built upon Taylor’s confession.