Eye witness misidentification and bad evidence analysis are the main reasons innocent people go to jail, a judicial panel heard Friday as it convened for the first time to address the problem of wrongfully convicted defendants.
Of the nearly 300 falsely imprisoned inmates later exonerated by DNA evidence, 77 percent were misidentified by their victims. Another 52 percent were convicted based on physical evidence handled or analyzed incorrectly. The resulting errors changed their lives forever.
“I’ve tried to live a ‘normal’ life since getting out,” said 54-year-old James Bain, who served 31 years for a rape he didn’t commit. “I’ve tried, but haven’t been able to.”
Bain, who entered prison at age 19 in 1974, is one of nearly 300 inmates released in recent years because of improved DNA testing procedures and advocacy groups like the Innocence Project, a New York-based organization.
Bain made his testimony to the Florida Innocence Commission, a 23-member panel created by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady to look at wrongful conditions and make recommendations to further reduce their occurrence and speed up justice for those still wrongfully incarcerated.
Bain was misidentified by a 9-year-old boy who was raped. Bain said he had never met the boy.
The issue of eye witness reliability may be one that lawmakers will address.
“You can clearly see a pattern. Witness identification is a recurring theme, but I knew that going in.” said Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart.
The group is expected to have a slate of recommendations by 2012 dealing with legislative, judicial and procedural changes that can be made to ensure that justice, though blind, doesn’t turn a blind eye.
“Besides freeing innocent citizens, an important part of this commission’s work is identifying key factors for wrongful convictions,” said Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, who applauded the commission’s work. “My hope is that we eliminate mistakes and ensure that the person responsible for committing a crime is the person who serves the time.”
Alan Crotzer, who served nearly 25 years for a rape he didn’t commit, said he sympathized to a degree with judges and prosecutors deluged by “prison-educated lawyers” who file often rambling or inarticulate appeals on their own behalf. But, he said, such lack of eloquence should not negate the need for dramatic changes to ensure that his ordeal is not repeated.
“Now and again, there is a diamond in the rough,” Crotzer said.
Canady said Friday he has no agenda other than to allow the commission to conduct its work and release its findings. He said the panel will be looking at what changes, if any, need to be made at the legislative level, within the judiciary and with everyday practices and procedures from arrest to conviction and beyond.
“I don’t have a preconceived idea of where the commission will end up,” Canady told the News Service of Florida during a break in the meeting. “I think it’s important that they grapple with the complex and very important issues that are related to the question of the conviction of the innocent, but I don’t have a list of things I want to get through the commission.”
By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida
