Prevent Wrongful Convictions

According to the report “Exonerations in the United States 1989 – 2003” (Gross, Jacoby, Matheson, Montgomery & Patil), between 1989 and 2003, over 340 convictions in the United States were overturned. (Full report)

Almost all the individual exonerations were grouped into the two most serious common catergories: rape and murder. Many of those 340 had been either sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty; more than half had served 10 years or more before being exonerated.

Due to the fact that no National registry or official record of exonerations exist, this is believed to be by no means an exhaustive list and there is no doubt that there are other cases which have gone unaccounted for or unrecorded. These 340 are only the very tip of the iceberg.

The repercussions of a wrongful conviction are widespread. The following are just a glimpse of the problems faced by exonerees once the onset of rebuilding their lives begins.

According to studies by the Life After Exoneration Project (LAEP), a nationwide program assisting the wrongfully convicted rebuild their lives on the outside, over 90 percent of exonerees lost all their assets – their savings, vehicles, houses - while imprisoned. Many spent their life savings and often that of their families on trying to win back their freedom.

Even after exoneration, the social stigma of having been once convicted lives on. Criminal records are not erased from the exoneree’s background often resulting in automatic disqualification from jobs etc..

Of those who are able to regain employment after their release, 43 percent are paid less than they earned prior to their imprisonment, 39 percent find work at similar pay, and only 17 percent are paid more than their pre-conviction salaries. When corrected for inflation and unemployed exonerees, the vast majority of exonerees never recover their pre-conviction earning potential.

And wrongful convictions don’t just harm the person incarcerated, they destroy entire families and communities. Victims or their survivors are also deeply affected. They are denied justice and their wounds reopened. Society is left with a guilty, often highly dangerous, person still walking the streets free. The general public must also struggle to come to terms with the inadequacies of their Law Enforcement agencies and District Attorneys which subsequently suffer a loss of trust.

The financial costs involved are great. For example, according to a December 2003 report by the State of Kansas into the costs incurred in death penalty (DP) cases (For summary of report, click here), it was asserted that total expenditure for each DP case through to execution were on average $1.26 million dollars. 78% of those costs (approximately $980 000) were spent on pretrial, trial and appeal expenses (49% and 29% respectively). Civil rights judgments and settlements, although still relatively rare, add additional dollars to the final tally.

The above mentioned 340+ are also the lucky ones. Many more continue to be locked up in prisons across the country, sentenced for crimes they did not commit with little hope of their injustice seeing the light of day.

Many miscarriages of justice are under investigated. Murder convictions, where the sentence received is not the death penalty, gather less attention than their counterparts. Convictions for robberies (where no murder was committed) are largely overlooked by both justice organizations and media alike, and those imprisoned for drug convictions and/or assault can count on little or no assistance. In essence, the shorter the sentence, the less forthcoming help is in overturning the conviction.

Wrongful convictions don’t just require reversing, they need averting. At PWC Consulting, we are committed to addressing both these areas via a process of review and analysis of the evidence presented during investigations, and any resulting trial.

Click on Services for further information on how PWC Consulting can help you.