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"…
Dispatches from the wrongly convicted"
"Actual
Innocence: Five Days To Execution, And Other Dispatches From The
Wrongly Convicted." Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, Jim Dwyer,
Doubleday, 2000, 298 pages. |
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On
Jan. 31, Governor George Ryan declared a suspension of the
application of the death penalty in the state of Illinois. Ryan
was quoted in the Feb. 1 edition of the Chicago Tribune as saying,
"Until I can be sure that everyone sentenced to death in
Illinois is truly guilty…no one will meet that fate." This
controversial topic is the focus of a new book on the wrongful
application of prison sentences and the death penalty in the
United States.
"Actual
Innocence" is one of the latest publications to explore this
problem in our country. Attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld
have teamed up with Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jim Dwyer to
write a searing indictment of our criminal justice system by
documenting no less than 37 cases that have inaccurately rendered
a guilty verdict against the wrong person.
The
inspiration for the book comes from the work of the Innocence
Project, a pro bono organization founded by Scheck and Neufeld.
The Innocence Project seeks to investigate the suspicious verdict
of guilt in seemingly open-and-shut criminal court cases.
Combining the latest advancements in science (specifically DNA
testing) with a resolute determination to discover the truth,
Scheck and Neufeld’s Innocence Project has been influential in
having the wrongful convictions of these 37 people overturned.
This
book is based on the actual stories of 10 innocent men—men who
were convicted "by sloppy police work, corrupt prosecutors,
jailhouse snitches, mistaken eyewitnesses and other all-too-common
flaws of the trial system." Each chapter is an illustration
of these flaws and their effect on the trial of the accused. In
the chapter entitled "Junk Science," erroneous testing
and poor interpretation of hair and sperm samples taken from a
suspect led to a conviction and sentence of 3,200 years. In this
case the Innocence Project disproved the validity and accuracy of
the scientific evidence presented against the defendant, and he
was released after serving five years of his sentence. The authors
state that "junk science had ruined him, topping the 11 alibi
witnesses who swore they saw Tim Durham 300 miles away."
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Other
true-life cases of wrongful conviction are graphically detailed in
chapters such as "False Confessions," "Sleeping
Lawyers" and "Race." Throughout the entire ordeal
of the falsely accused, the persistence of the Innocence Project
is evident as it seeks to reverse a terrible injustice.
This
book will find a wide audience of readers. Fans of true crime
stories and those who enjoy legal suspense thrillers will find the
book difficult to put down. Anyone who is interested in the
problems associated with the American judicial system will find
the book thought provoking and at the same time disturbing. The
authors have made a compelling case for reform in our trial
system, reform that is needed to insure that innocent people are
not wrongfully imprisoned or executed in this country.
"Actual Innocence" should generate considerable
discussion in the coming months on false imprisonment and the
application of the death penalty in the United States.
For
more information, visit the library at 725 Pekin St. or call
732-8878.
[Richard
Sumrall,
Lincoln Public Library District]
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