Research Paper On Wrongful Convictions In The United States (Research Paper Sample)

Wrongful Convictions
Name
Institution
Wrongful Convictions
In the USA, there are a huge number of cases of persons that were wrongful convicted and later exonerated (Gould, 2014). As of October 2016, 1900 prisoners were exonerated as per the National Registry of Exonerations (NRE) (Gross, Possley & Stephens, 2017). It has also become evident that race plays a crucial factor in the justice system. Some ethnic groups such as African Americans have higher incidences of wrongful conviction than other races (Gross, Possley & Stephens, 2017).
Table 1: The table below highlights exonerations on the basis of race and crime of the defendant (Gross, Possley & Stephens, 2017).
Crime (Total)WhiteBlackHispanicOther Murder (762)36%50%12%2%Sexual Assault (289)34%59%6%1%Child Sex Abuse (212)64%25%9%2%Robbery (100)20%62%15%3%Other Violent Crimes (200)46%36%13%5%Drug Crimes (221)24%55%19%2%Other non-violent crimes (116)59%22%15%4%ALL CRIMES (1900)39%47%12%2%
Looking at specific examples, the case of Rafael Suarez is worth noting. In Tucson 1997, the defendant, Suarez was convicted of a crime, vicious felony assault, and yet another man had pleaded guilty that he was the one who had committed the crime (Gross, 2015). The lawyer who represented Suarez had witnesses although he did not present them in court. The lawyer had interviewed the first witness that reported the crime by calling 911, as well as an eye-witness. The two witnesses separately defended S...