“It is better to let nine guilty persons free, than to convict one innocent man”

Sir William Blackstone (1776)

▫Thoughts?

Wrongful Convictions

CLN4U – Mr. Andrez

Wrongful Convictions

•When an innocent person is wrongfully convicted, it is a double failure:▫The innocent individual is wronged▫A guilty person goes free

A classical pattern exists to wrongful convictions:

1. heinous, unsolved crime2. unpopular or minority accused3. inadequate defence4. determined prosecution zealously

seeking a conviction to resolve community concern

•Wrongful convictions are usually the product of problems with the system.▫A “tunnel vision” occurs with

investigators when suspects are identified

▫Police can obtain and manipulate evidence to prove presumed guilt

▫that means they miss evidence that could lead them to the truth (i.e. either evidence that clears the accused, or evidence that leads them to the actual criminal)

Wrongful Convictions In Canada•In Canada there have been a number of

wrongful convictions that have gained both national and international notoriety.▫David Milgaard▫Donald Marshall▫Stephen Truscott▫Romeo Phillion▫Guy Paul Morin

•rarely are the result of deliberate misbehaviour ▫exception: Dr. Charles Smith

▫The Fifth Estate: “A Death in the Family”