The Innocence Project Research Paper

Imagine spending nearly 20 years in a prison for a crime you did not commit. Well that was the case for Angel Gonzalez. Angel was arrested and convicted of sexual assault and kidnapping on June 16, 1995. Angel was later then exonerated on March 10, 2015. The victim identified Angel from the back of the cop car and never got out the car to get a closer look at him. The evidence that was used to convicted Angel was that the victim told the police that the assailant had the same car as Angel. After 20 years in prison, The Innocence Project opened up his case and reviewed it. The organization brought up DNA testing that provided he wasn’t one of the assailants. After a day, Angel was released out of prison and walked as a free man. These types

The Innocence Project started in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck (www. innocenceproject.org). They helped prove that the convicted person was innocent through DNA testing. Their mission was to free the incarcerated people and help the legal system to not make these mistakes again. There are too many innocent people that are wrongfully accused of crimes they did not commit. One case where the Innocence Project helped exonerate someone is the case of Marvin Anderson. In July of 1982, a woman was raped by a black man and later identified him as Marvin Anderson. Throughout his trial, people questioned the evidence and did not believe he was guilty. Anderson even asked his own lawyers to look into other witnesses that could help prove his

During the year of 2015, a case that the Innocence Project was working on at the time was the Joseph Buffey Case. Joseph Buffey was convicted in 2001 in West Virginia of rape and robbery. Mr. Buffey pled guilty to the crimes based on the advise of his counsel and witness misidentification which was the heart of this investigation. On May 11, 2015, Mr. Buffey was excluded by DNA and the real perpetrator was later found. Mr. Buffey served a total of 15 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit. DNA Exonerations makes up 334 total cases that the Innocence Project has worked on. The following numbers overlap with the 334 cases. 237 cases involved misidentification by witnesses, 154 were the result of improper forensics, 92 were due to

This Organisation is a non-profit Legal organisation dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustices. The Innocence Project was established in a landmark study by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Senate in conjunction with the Benjamin N.Cardozo School of Law, which found that incorrect identification by eyewitnesses was a factor in over 70% of

The project has campaigned to expand rights of convicted and the right to undergo DNA evaluation. Some have wanted rights to utilize DNA testing because it was extremely avoid the innocence from serving time and reduce the number of convictions. They have created the organization to be sided with the suspect as they have no useful resources to proclaim their innocence and provide pro bono services and pays off all investigation and litigation costs of all

False confessions have been a leading factor in destroying the lives of many innocent people. Since the advances of technology, victims of false confessions have been exonerated from the charges previously placed on them while others are still fighting for innocence or died a criminal. One technological advance that has exonerated many individuals is DNA testing. According to Randy James, DNA testing was discovered in 1985 and was first used in court to convict Tommie Lee Andrews (Time, 2009). Today many Americans are convicted because of false confessions that have not yet been overturned with new evidence (Kassin, 2014). Although DNA testing has led to freedom for many innocent Americans, there are still many innocent people who are locked

With the number of DNA exonerations growing in the recent years, wrongful convictions reveal disturbing trends and fissures in the justice system. It shows how broken the system is, and why it needs urgent fixing. According to Huff (1996), over ten thousand people are convicted wrongfully for serious crimes each year. This study established that factors leading to wrongful convictions are false eyewitnesses, a prejudiced jury, incompetent prosecutors, and suspects’ ignorance. Where DNA evidence clears a suspect, array of reasons emerge; misconduct, mistakes, to race and class factors. It is important to make DNA data available to attorneys in order to enable them mount a strong

(2012). Post-Conviction DNA testing and wrongful conviction (2008F-08165). Retrieved from Urban Institute Justice Policy Center website: www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/238816.pdf

This Organisation is a non-profit Legal organisation dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustices. The Innocence Project was established in a landmark study by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Senate in conjunction with the Benjamin N.Cardozo School of Law, which found that incorrect identification by eyewitnesses was a

Forensic science has become the greatest collective method for intelligence gathering of human identifiers. The forensic sciences are used around the world to resolve civil disputes, to justly the enforcement of criminal laws and government regulations, and to protect public health. Over the years, judges have trusted forensic methods without a second thought. DNA analysis is the most reliable method that forensic has, but how reliable is it? (Jonathan Jones, pbs). According to a group called The Innocence Project, “Misapplication of forensic science is the second most common contributing factor to wrongful convictions, found in nearly half (46%) of DNA exoneration cases” (Innocence project).

Do you feel the US has regained/ recovered its innocence in the eyes of the world since the 60’s or not? Are things better or worse today? Did we lose our innocence temporarily or permanently and why?

This country has come a long ways since the time of slavery. In 1902, the International Agreement of Suppression of the White Slave Traffic was drafted. This agreement was the first step in an effort to end sex trafficking. Throughout the next eight years, the Mann Act was enacted, forbidding the transportation of any person across state or international lines for the purpose of prostitution or other immoral purposes (Sex Trafficking, 2000).

Thanks to an organization called “The Innocence Project” and Peter Neufeld (Lawyer & Co-founder), both Brooks and Brewer were eventually cleared of the wrongful convictions and released. Neufeld stated that there have been hundreds of people who were wrongfully convicted based on “Bite Mark” testimony. Neufeld further stated that a study of the cases of people who were exonerated by DNA evidence showed that 60% of those cases involved invalid evidence or misapplication of science.

In the summer of 1994 an Illinois woman’s buzzer rang at her apartment complex in Waukegan. She went downstairs to check after nobody went upstairs to her apartment. As soon as she reached the door downstairs, two men forced her into a dark colored sedan, kidnapped her, and raped her. Distraught after her attack, the victim wandered until she ultimately found a Seven Eleven close by and the police were called. When the police arrived, the victim said she was attacked by two Hispanic men that looked to be in their mid-twenties and a bit taller than her height of five feet and seven inches. The car that she was forced into was described as dark colored, older, having four doors and tinted windows. The victim’s boyfriend saw Angel Gonzalez’s car in the apartment complex parking lot and it matched the characteristics that the woman used to describe the assailant’s car. Police later stopped Gonzalez’s car and the victim acknowledged that the car was the one she described. She was then asked if Gonzalez was one of her attackers, and she was certain that he was, despite her being in the backseat of the police car while he was in front of it. Not only was he not close enough for her to get a clear view, but he also had facial hair and a birthmark, both characteristics that she did not use to describe her attackers. This led to Gonzalez being in police custody for interrogation where they did not allow him to sleep. When he was interrogated, he

The Innocence Project was established in the wake of a landmark study by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Senate with help from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Schneider, 2013). This study found that there were numerous reasons why people are wrongfully convicted including, but not limited to eye witness identification, perjured testimony, improper forensic science techniques, and government misconduct (Roberts & Weathered, 2009) The original Innocence Project was founded twenty two (22) years ago as a part of the Cardoza School of Law of Yeshiva University in New York City, New York (Davis, 2012). The Innocence Projects primary goal is to exonerate those whom have been convicted of a crime when there is DNA evidence available to be tested or re-tested (Mitchell, 2011). DNA testing has been possible in five (5) percent to ten (10) percent of cases since 1992 (Risinger, 2007). On the other side, other members of the Innocence Project help to exonerate those have been convicted of a crime where there is no DNA evidence to test. A goal of the Innocence Project is to conduct research on the reasons for wrongful convictions, how to fix the criminal justice system, as well as advocate for those who have been wrongfully convicted (Steiker & Steiker, 2005). The members of this organization strive to teach the world about the dangers of wrongful convictions. To date, this non-profit legal organization, has freed three hundred eighteen (318)