Errors Involved In Wrongful Conviction Essay

In the short video “Death by Fire” we learn of the story of Todd Willingham. We are presented with facts about a fire, which killed Willingham’s three children, which ultimately sent him to his death. The case begins in the small town of Corsicana, Texas. On December 13, 1991 Todd Willingham’s home was ablaze and his children were trapped inside. Neighbors say they witnessed Willingham outside, on the front porch screaming for his children and screaming for help. As the fire raged, firefighters arrived on the scene and were able to pull one of the children out of the home. Unfortunately all of the children died due to injuries they sustained in the fire. While the fire raged in the house Todd’s wife Stacy was out Christmas shopping and was unharmed. The attitude of Todd after the fire began to raise question with those who were close to him and also with investigators. The night after the fire, a local bar had a benefit to raise money for Todd’s family to help pay for the costs they would soon face. Many say that Todd became too involved with the festivities and seemed like he did not care his kids had just died. They say that Todd was bragging about how money would begin to roll in because people would feel bad for him. Having seen these things, investigators immediately labeled Todd as their prime suspect.

This story is replete with fascinating facts and the intricacies that are inherent in the facts of the case make for a great story.The baseball bat was broken from the outset when it was bought by the plaintiff. Therefore, the defendant should have to return the baseball bat and pay the money back to the plaintiff that plaintiff paid for said bat. The plaintiff bought a baseball bat from the defendant and the baseball bat turned out to be broken because, since as soon as the defendant used the bat to play baseball, the bat shattered into a million pieces. Shattering into a million pieces certainly violates the implied warranty of merchantability under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC 2-314). No Industria De Calcados Martini Ltda. v.

As I, Klaudia Hoxha (forensic technician), approached the crime scene at 4 o'clock pm at the residence of Josh Powell. As i approached the scene i noticed 4 reporting officers, and the fire fighters who put the fire out, were present at this two story single family dwelling. I approached the reporting officers and fire fighters and took copies of there reports. I then immendently, sent in my team to take pictures and any kind of evidence they can find. From the looks this residential seemed occupied. A fire expands horizontally and vertically from it's point of origin, which in this case is the center of the house. According to a report, i noticed a witness who was a member/ social worker from Powell's meeting groups ,gave a statement that

Many of these mistakes were based around DNA. DNA testing wasn’t a thing in the past so there was not the sureness of innocence or guilt (Lindell). This shows that we had to rely more on witnesses and confessions then we did science so a wrongful conviction wasn’t to hard to get. We developed the technology to test DNA a little bit after Morton was convicted. The DNA proved that he was innocent of the murder (Lindell). If we would have haven DNA testing the judicial system probably never would have given Morton a guilty verdict. We can’t just blame the fact that there was no DNA testing we also have to look at the prosecutor of the case. The prosecutor, Anderson, was an amazing attorney and award winning for 16 years, but even he made a mistake (Lindell). Even though he was suppose to be this amazing prosecutor who doesn’t mess up, he still ended up messing up. Everyone can make mistakes, it happens but his changed the life of a man and how much of his mistakes weren’t accidental? Anderson was supposedly withholding evidence and ignoring witness statements lead to the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton (Silver). This shows that the prosecutors arrogance of thinking he had the right man lead to him being dramatically wrong at the expense of a man's life. His mistakes may come back to hurt him though. Anderson is being questioned on

Everyday, people are arrested for crimes they have committed. However, the justice system, in some cases, has failed to convict and arrest the right person. Innocent people have been sent to jail based upon the deliberate misidentification of suspects. Throughout U.S history, there have been several famous wrongful convictions such as the Scottsboro Boys and Ed Johnson (Grimsley). Their convictions were based on race due to the racial strife from the Jim Crow era. Base on David Love’s article, many convictions after the Jim Crow era were still being caused by misleading identification from eyewitness claims of the suspects being African Americans. Due to the advancement of forensic and DNA technology, lack of evidence from previous convictions

By the time John Orr was convicted of four counts of murder for the South Pasadena hardware store fire, he had already served six years in prison. Orr was convicted of three counts of arson. At the end, Orr was convicted using his very own signature homemade incendiary device. Fellow firefighters began suspecting that the arsonist was one of their own after conference of arson investigators. During the conference period, an oddly large amount of fire broke out. During that time fires broke out in fabric shops, drugstores, and craft shops. At a craft shop in Bakersfield, California a fire broke out in a display of dried flowers. At the scene, investigators found charred remnants of what appeared a simple incendiary device — a filter-tipped cigarette and matches, held together with a rubber band. One of the devices was partially wrapped in yellow paper (Bovsun, 2014). Though many of the investigator believe this was the work of an expert attending the arson conference, it could not be proven.

The relationship between law enforcement and prosecutors, which goes hand-in-hand, can’t be overlooked. Evidence of a crime that detectives and law enforcement discover is as equally important as a good trial on part of the prosecution. If detectives aren’t able to find good solid evidence – that case usually isn’t bothered in being pursued. Several years ago, in the late 80’s, there was a murder case in Southeastern Oklahoma which now serves as a tragic example to the need for honest, constitutional work in the criminal justice system. Disreputable investigative procedures, fraudulent sources, and bad evidence were the foundation of this case that shattered innocent lives.

Cameron Todd Willingham – In 1992, Willingham was convicted of arson murder in Corsicana, Texas. He was believed to have purposely set a fire that killed his three kids. In 2004, he was put to death. The Texas Forensics Science Commission didn’t find out UNTIL AFTER his execution the evidence was misinterpreted, and they concluded that none of the evidence used against Willingham was valid. The fire was accidental. Maybe if they would have looked harder into it they would have found out that fires are started accidentally all the time! Fires are started by cooking, the heater, washing machines and dryers, air conditioners and fans, candles, electrical equipment, if its fourth of July your fireworks can start a fire, Christmas trees, sometimes your cigarettes are not all the way out like you think they are and they can start the fire (most things in the world can). Look at your facts and look over the crime scene

The Ohio State Penitentiary fire claimed the lives of many in 1930. The fire was set with the intent of causing a distraction to allow a few to escape the prison walls. This did not go to plan and instead, the prison was set ablaze when everyone was locked securely in their cells for the evening. It quickly got out of control and the fire, combined with poor prison conditions, lead to the death of 322 victims becoming the worst prison fire in the world at the time. From this tragedy, new fire codes were developed as well as new measures taken in the prison system to assure such a situation never happen again. The country hasn’t faced a tragedy like this since.

Every time an innocent person is exonerated based on DNA testing, law enforcement agencies look at what caused the wrongful convictions. There are many issues that contribute to putting guiltless lives behind bars including: eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, imperfect forensic science, and more (Gould and Leo 18). When a witness is taken into a police station to identify a suspect, it is easy for their memories to be blurred and their judgment influenced. This can lead the witness to identify a suspect who is actually innocent. Flawed forensic science practice also contributes to wrongful imprisonments. In the past, analysts have been inaccurate due to carelessness, testified in court presenting evidence that was not based

“Wrongful convictions happen every week in every state in this country. And they happen for all the same reasons. Sloppy police work. Eyewitness identification is the most- is the worst type almost. Because it is wrong about half the time. Think about that.” (Grisham). Wrongful convictions can happen to anyone, at anytime. Grisham implies wrongful convictions happen for the same reasons, careless police work as well as eyewitness identification. An eyewitness identification is a crucial aspect in detective work because it essentially locates the person at the crime scene. This is the worst cause of wrongful convictions because it is wrong half the time.

Founders of the United States of America believed in providing the people of this great nation with a fair, and impartial judicial system. The basic rights of the people, which are listed in the Bill of Rights, needed to be respected and protected by the government. Abraham Lincoln once said “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth”. Every part of the United States government has a duty to protect the people that gave the government power, and one organization in particular plays a very large role in this charge. The Judicial System of the United States America is a complex organization constructed to uphold the authority of the Constitution, and federal law. The judges within the

Have you ever been grounded or punished by your parent’s for something you honestly didn’t do? Maybe your sibling or friend stole something or hurt someone and the blame and the “horrible” consequences were put on you. No phone, no TV, no friends over, confined to your room. Straight tortures and a feeling of betrayal and dishonesty from everyone around you. Now, imagine being an adult wrongfully accused of a major crime such as an armed robbery or murder, which they didn’t commit, except it isn’t being grounded or their parents they 're worried about, its sitting behind bars, no longer a free citizen, fighting for their freedom with most likely one of the following things happened such as an eyewitness identified the wrong individual, false confessions, Perjury, maybe even forensic science error. Imagine as a child how you felt being grounded in the comfort of our own home. Just picture how an individual would feel wrongfully convicted in a cold, 10x10 box with a cold cot to sleep on! The injustice of being convicted and imprisoned for a crime one did not commit is intuitively apparent. I would take being grounded over a jail cell any day.

With all of the different reasons for setting arson fires, as well as the large variance in profiles of arsonists, investigating them can be difficult. This difficulty is compounded by the amount of evidence than can be destroyed by the act of arson. Arson investigators must begin by trying to find the point of origin; a task that can be made very difficult by tossing aside the debris and damaged items while the fire is being fought (Swanson, et al. 2006). If arson is suspected, the point of origin can be a deciding factor in declaring a fire intentional, especially if the fire began in the center of the room

The greater the time between the crime, documentation, collection, and examination of a crime scene, the harder it will be to reconstruct it due to changes constantly occurring. A crime scene is built on all available evidence, even what appears to be the absence of evidence. When lack of science, lack of research, or a poorly searched crime scene is the reason for a solid conclusion this can result in evidence not being