Unlawful Convictions

The New York Times ran an op-ed this morning by Prof. Richard Moran (sociology, Mt. Holyoke). He has conducted a study that found that 2/3 of wrongful convictions resulted from willful misconduct by prosecutors and/or police.  Such actions include putting witnesses on the stand that prosecutors know are lying, failing to turn over evidence favorable to the defense and manufacturing or destroying evidence to increase the possibility of conviction.   

Moran’s study looks interesting, but the story is probably better told through individual stories rather than statistics. The Trials of Darryl Hunt, a documentary about how one man was wrongfully convicted of a brutal rape and his struggle to prove his innocence, should be mandatory viewing for everyone in the profession.  It was a racially charged case in Winston-Salem and some of the same characters appear in the Duke Lacross players saga. Needless to say, although the City and State paid Mr. Hunt a pretty penny, the people involved in hiding exonerating evidence proving he was innocent were not punished.  Moran suggests that we change our rhetoric (calling these “unlawful” instead of “wrongful convictions”) and establish more specific standards for overturning convictions.  These suggestions are too weak.  The real problem, as he points out, is “the hearts and souls of those whose job it is to uphold the law.”  I am not sure whether law or ethics rules can change hearts and minds, but setting that philosophical debate aside the law surely can put fear into the hearts and minds of prosecutors by actually punishing them for misconduct.  All prosecutors who engage in such conduct should be fired and disbarred.

By the way, thanks to Dan and the other Prawfs for inviting me to blog this month!