The True Causes of Wrongful Convictions

The True Causes of Wrongful Convictions

Lindsay James

0880571

Professor Graham Brown

University of Guelph

SOC 1500*02 Crime and Criminal Justice

Winter 2016

March 31, 2016

The True Causes of Wrongful Convictions

Introduction

        The Canadian Justice System was created in Canada to control crime and put in place our duties as members of society. Wrongful convictions can be simply defined as an individual who is accused of a crime they did not commit. Over the last few years there has been increased media attention looking at cases of wrongful convictions published in the media, creating a stir of emotions in the eyes of the population. While eyewitness misidentification is proven to be the prominent cause of wrongful convictions, there are several other causes that are just as important when dealing with the issue of wrongful convictions in the Criminal Justice System. There are several cases in Canada, and the United States where criminals have been committed of a crime they did not commit, and in turn spent a large amount of time innocently behind bars. The objective of this paper is to look into the top causes of wrongful convictions, and in particular will be looking at eyewitness misidentification, government misconduct, errors in forensic science, false confessions, and jailhouse informants, while looking at similar cases.

1. Eyewitness Identification Error

        Eyewitness identification error is known to be the most common cause of wrongful conviction. Currently, in the United States the number of those proven to be wrongly convicted is known to be 1,125 since 1989 (McLellan, 2013). This number does not include those who are still trying to prove their innocence. Eyewitness identification error is when a witness at the scene or a victim positively identifies the wrong person. This can be done by looking at a suggestive lineup where similar looking individuals stand side by side, witness changed the description of the suspect through police influence, or shown a photo of the victim and feel like it could be them. This is the most common cause of wrongful conviction because eyewitnesses get caught up in the moment and just want their attacker behind bars, which can make them not think clearly, or lose focus of details about the individual.

        In Canada the wrongful conviction case of Michel Dumont provides a further explanation into the cause of eyewitness misidentification. In this case, Danielle Lechasseur was raped at knifepoint and later picked Michel Dumont’s photo out of a lineup. Lechasseur description of her perpetrator was a big man with no glasses and tattoos, and friends of Dumont testified in his trial that he was playing cards with them the evening of the rape. There was no evidence tying Dumont to the rape other than Lechasseur positive identification. After seeing someone similar in a video store, Lechasseur began doubting herself that her rapist was in jail. Since being released on parole, Dumont has been trying to sue for false imprisonment in which he has not been able to obtain from the Ministry of Justice (Taylor, 2013).