Once a person has a criminal defense lawyer, the government should only communicate through that lawyer. It should never go behind the lawyer’s back and attempt to continue to interrogate the client. Doing so is a violation of the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel in...
prosecutorial misconduct
How can we prevent race discrimination in jury selection?
Among the many pressing problems in our criminal justice system is the reality that prosecutors sometimes try to prevent people of color from serving on juries. The reasoning must be that people of color are more likely to be anti-police or pro-defense than white...
Richard Glossip didn’t do it and we know who did. Why is he on death row?
In January 1997, Justin Sneed murdered an Oklahoma motel owner named Barry Van Treese. He has admitted as much. In exchange for more favorable treatment, Sneed agreed to implicate and testify against Richard Glossip, the motel’s manager. The prosecution’s theory was...
Reasonable doubt: The role of stereotypes in a Texas woman’s case
If her conviction isn’t reconsidered, Melissa Lucio is expected to be executed on April 27. If that happens, she will be the first Latina to be executed by the state of Texas. She was convicted of murdering her daughter Mariah, but some experts believe no crime was...
Curtis Flowers, tried 6 times for murder, finally set free
The state of Mississippi tried Curtis Flowers for murder six times. He was convicted in four trials, while another two ended in mistrials. Yet each of the convictions was overturned. In 2010, after his sixth trial, Flowers was given the death penalty. In June of 2019,...
‘Perfect storm’ of injustice overturned in wrongful conviction
"Theophalis Wilson, you are free to go," said a Philadelphia judge recently. She was releasing a man who has been exonerated of the three 1989 killings he was convicted of as a teenager.According to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, the case was a "perfect...
What should prosecutors do when they know an officer lies?
It's a controversial subject, but we live in a harsh world. Some police officers lie. Some have a documented history of misconduct, including lying or other acts that call their truthfulness into question. If they do, this history should be available to the defense so...
2018’s exonerees lost 1,639 years to wrongful convictions
According to the National Registry of Exonerations' annual report, 151 people were exonerated in the U.S. in 2018. Together, they spent 1,639 years behind bars for crimes they didn't commit -- an average of about 11 years each.Unfortunately, that was a record. The...
Should a history of prosecutor misconduct be considered on appeal?
Curtis Flowers was convicted of murdering the owner of a furniture store he once worked in, along with three employees. The alleged motive was revenge -- the store owner had fired him and withheld most of his final paycheck to pay for merchandise he had supposedly...
Those exonerated in 2017 lost 1,478 years to wrongful conviction
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, at least 139 people were exonerated of crimes in the U.S. last year. Some 2,100 have been exonerated since 1989, when DNA evidence was first used to exonerate someone. Today, people are being found innocent using a...