Convicting the Innocent Classic Reprint Edwin Montefiore Borchard 9781331327486 Books
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A Corpse Answers an Advertisement They Forgot to Fingerprint Him Handwriting Experts.
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Convicting the Innocent Classic Reprint Edwin Montefiore Borchard 9781331327486 Books
Edwin M. Borchard was a Professor of Law at Yale University. He has long urged that innocent people who were wrongly convicted of crimes should be compensated for their wrongs and injuries ('Preface'). Federal and state governments did not do so (in 1932). Some believed that it is a "physical impossibility" to convict an innocent man. So 65 cases were selected from a much larger number to refute this supposition. Most of these cases were taken from the twentieth century. Fifty of these cases are more important, fifteen are presented concisely. Innocence was established by: the appearance of the alleged murder victim, the conviction of the real culprit, or the discovery of new evidence. This does not include cases of pardon without an admission of erroneous conviction. These cases are mostly due to: mistaken identification, circumstantial evidence (where erroneous inferences are drawn), perjury, or a combination of these errors. There is no index to the people involved.Each of the fifty cases take up about six pages each, the fifteen supplementary cases each have about three pages. The 'Conclusion' summarizes the mistakes in these cases. The major source of these errors was the identification of the accused by the victim of a crime of violence. Besides the emotions of the victim, other factors enter (desire for revenge, support an identification made by others). In many of these cases there was a little resemblance between the wrongfully accused and the actually guilty criminal. Little scientific study has been done on the effects of suggestion or defective powers of observation. There are enough wrongful convictions on circumstantial evidence to be disturbing. Circumstantial evidence coming from different sources is less likely to be false. But evidence can be manufactured or suppressed (p.369). Presenting evidence of a prior conviction can prejudice a jury against a defendant (p.370). The use of the "third degree" to produce confessions is a public disgrace (p.371). Such "confessions" are a factor in wrongful convictions. Public opinion can be blamed when passions are aroused and demand a sacrificial victim. How many wrongfully convicted have been executed is impossible to say (p.373). There are problems in the unreliability of "expert" evidence. An alibi or collateral testimony which is false will be extremely prejudicial to the defendant, even if innocent. A defendant who is poor and can't hire a competent attorney will be convicted (p.374). Borchard recommends an independent investigating committee to consider certain cases (p.375). An appeals court should review cases on the facts as well as on the law in felony or at least capital cases. A review on the facts could set aside an unjust verdict, and correct errors in the administration of justice (p.376). Borchard recommends the NY law that allows an appeal court to order a new trial if the verdict was against the weight of evidence or against law, even if no exception was taken in court.
Borchard thinks highly of English law (pp.377-378) and its laws on paper. But that didn't save an innocent from the gallows ("10 Rillington Place") and the abolishment of capital punishment around 1962. Borchard urges the adoption of legislation to indemnify the wrongfully convicted. Any amounts should be adjusted for the devalued currency (or "inflation").
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Convicting the Innocent Classic Reprint Edwin Montefiore Borchard 9781331327486 Books Reviews
Edwin M. Borchard was a Professor of Law at Yale University. He has long urged that innocent people who were wrongly convicted of crimes should be compensated for their wrongs and injuries ('Preface'). Federal and state governments did not do so (in 1932). Some believed that it is a "physical impossibility" to convict an innocent man. So 65 cases were selected from a much larger number to refute this supposition. Most of these cases were taken from the twentieth century. Fifty of these cases are more important, fifteen are presented concisely. Innocence was established by the appearance of the alleged murder victim, the conviction of the real culprit, or the discovery of new evidence. This does not include cases of pardon without an admission of erroneous conviction. These cases are mostly due to mistaken identification, circumstantial evidence (where erroneous inferences are drawn), perjury, or a combination of these errors. There is no index to the people involved.
Each of the fifty cases take up about six pages each, the fifteen supplementary cases each have about three pages. The 'Conclusion' summarizes the mistakes in these cases. The major source of these errors was the identification of the accused by the victim of a crime of violence. Besides the emotions of the victim, other factors enter (desire for revenge, support an identification made by others). In many of these cases there was a little resemblance between the wrongfully accused and the actually guilty criminal. Little scientific study has been done on the effects of suggestion or defective powers of observation. There are enough wrongful convictions on circumstantial evidence to be disturbing. Circumstantial evidence coming from different sources is less likely to be false. But evidence can be manufactured or suppressed (p.369). Presenting evidence of a prior conviction can prejudice a jury against a defendant (p.370). The use of the "third degree" to produce confessions is a public disgrace (p.371). Such "confessions" are a factor in wrongful convictions. Public opinion can be blamed when passions are aroused and demand a sacrificial victim. How many wrongfully convicted have been executed is impossible to say (p.373). There are problems in the unreliability of "expert" evidence. An alibi or collateral testimony which is false will be extremely prejudicial to the defendant, even if innocent. A defendant who is poor and can't hire a competent attorney will be convicted (p.374). Borchard recommends an independent investigating committee to consider certain cases (p.375). An appeals court should review cases on the facts as well as on the law in felony or at least capital cases. A review on the facts could set aside an unjust verdict, and correct errors in the administration of justice (p.376). Borchard recommends the NY law that allows an appeal court to order a new trial if the verdict was against the weight of evidence or against law, even if no exception was taken in court.
Borchard thinks highly of English law (pp.377-378) and its laws on paper. But that didn't save an innocent from the gallows ("10 Rillington Place") and the abolishment of capital punishment around 1962. Borchard urges the adoption of legislation to indemnify the wrongfully convicted. Any amounts should be adjusted for the devalued currency (or "inflation").
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