Customer Reviews

Actual Innocence

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Everyone with a heart, brain, soul and/or conscience must read this book.

This book tells the stories of many men who were convicted unjustly. While I expected to learn of the stories of the men who were proven "actually innocent" by DNA, I didn't expect to find that in doing so it exposed many other injustices as well.

What I found was that while DNA was the catalyst, and the ultimate proof that set these men free - it did far more than that. It was because of the DNA evidence that the courts were forced to see that there are far more flaws the justice system than any of us would like to admit.

I found myself alternately fascinated and appalled throughout this book.

What truly amazed me was that "actual innocence" is not the be all and end all in the courts as it should be. I was floored that even though a person could be proven "actually innocent" via DNA, there were still hoops that lawyers had to leap through to obtain justice.

I would urge everyone who reads this book to take note to the suggestions peppered throughout and take action to make the changes necessary (whether it be on the state or federal level) to make sure that the guilty are punished, not the innocent.

For anyone who thinks that this book is for "bleeding-heart liberals", remember this - for every person unjustly imprisoned, and God forbid, sentenced to death - there is the very real probability that the real perpetrator is still out there.

I would urge EVERYONE to buy this book and learn from it.

I would really like to give this book a rating much higher that five (5) stars, as I believe it should serve as an educational experience for all of us.

Don't remain anonymous - buy this book, learn from it and act.

I picked this title up on the weekend, and have been engrossed in it ever since. What the authors showcase reveals the appalling state of the judicial system in the USofA. From 'snitch' testimony being the backbone of a case - to the warped and twisted serologists who've framed numerous individuals with crimes they didn't commit, the contents of this writing will shake the reader to the core. If it doesn't... then you don't likely have a pulse. There's a grass-roots movement regarding crime and punishment - and well there should be, given what is reported in "Actual Innocence". The Law needs a shakedown, and the public needs to call for it. I highly recommend this intelligent and articulate presentation of a very controversial subject. As Sir William Hamilton once said, "The truth, like a torch, when it's shook it shines." Here's to the truth shining bright as day upon all the dark nooks and crannies of the American judicial system (and beyond!). Kudos to the authors, who've held their torch high and are shining a beacon across the land.

A powerful, moving and well-written book. Away from all the moral problems with capital punishment, the Authors are able to focus on legal issues and statistics to show the problems of executing inmates. Many of the research for this book come from The Innocence Project and from the Federal Government, in the form of published reports from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In brief, this book provides a few stories and they explain how people in this country are wrongly convicted and how scientific evidence, specifically DNA Testing, can help prove their innocence.

The book also looks at other sources of problems within the judicial system - Prosecutorial/police misconduct, lazy defense counsels and death-biased juries.

This book provides the reader with an educated discussion on the problems of the death penalty. I highly recommend it to everyone and challenge the proponents of the death penalty to read this and look into their own souls to determine if this is a system we want to continue.

What a shocking book about American justice! It seems that many of the things that minorities have been complaining about over the years are being undisputedly validated. If the current L.A. Police Department's probe into the Rampart Station rogue police officers making their own version of justice, or the New York Police Department's multiple shootings and/or maltreatment of unarmed minorities are not bad enough, then comes along this incredible book.

Written by Jim Dwyer in a journalistic style, the story is told in unremitting forthrightness. Even though the obvious intent is not to scream and yell, their passion for the truth shines through on every page, and the facts speak for themselves. The statistics are horrible.

It is typical American paradox, in a legal profession that purports to champion the causes of truth and justice, so many that are in positions of power will blatantly ignore, manipulate or fabricate these two ideals. That includes pandering politicians as well.

Just a simple two paragraph quote from the book will give you insight of the serious, damaging and outrageous facts that the authors elucidate: "In the United States, there are grave consewquences when an airplane falls from the sky; and automobile has a defective part; a patient is the victim of malpractice, a bad drug, or an erroneous lab report. Serious inquiries are made: What went wrong? Was it a systemic breakdown? An individual's mistake? Was there official misconduct? Can anything be done to correct the problem and prevent it from happening again?"

"In 1999, the Innocence Project (the authors) reconstructed sixty-two cases in the United States of the sixty-seven exonerations in North America to determine what factors had been prevalent in the wrongful convictions. Mistaken eyewitnesses were a factor in 84 percent of the convictions; snitches or informants in 21 percent; false confessions in 24 percent. Defense lawyers fell down on the job in 27 percent; prosecutorial misconduct played a part in 42 percent, and police misconduct in 50 percent. A third involved tainted or fraudulent science...."

The authors state that in the last twenty-five years, there have been 553 people executed in this country. In that same period, 80 condemned people have been released from death row. (That calculates for me to be a 12.6% error rate of the ones that the evidence could still be found to prove their innocence.) That arguement alone is substantial reason to stay any further executions.

This book is not just about the wrongful incarceration of innocent (mostly black) men on death row. It is a damming statement of the human condition of enough of our judges, prosecutors, police officers, defense lawyers, State & Federal Governmental officials, forensic experts, falacious (so-called) eyewitnesses, jailhouse snitches, and victims to cause serious concern.

And the arrogance of the Legal system, to deny complicity, admit error, or leave the door open for innocent men to avail themselves of irrefutable evidence. The depth of the abuses of the system exposed by this book are simply not acceptable in our American System of Law. How can we expect the lesser blessed in our American environment to improve themselves and believe in the system when those in power refuse to acknowledge the truth, and continue to abuse the system for there own aggrandizement?

Every American man and woman should read this book. It will explode many American myths we were taught. It may arouse you enough to become advocates of justice for all of us! For truth to prevail, we must look beyond campaign rhetoric and not allow politicians to hide behind the catch all rallying cry "Tough on Crime." We must vote yes for the necessary funding to follow the specific solutions suggested by the authors to insure that these abuses do not continue to happen at such a high rate. Don't forget: If it can happen to them; we could be next!

Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, Jim Dwyer and the Innocence Project deserve our highest accolades, our gratitude, and our support for having the courage to bring these facts to the direct attention of the American public.

Actual Innocence is a very well written, easy to read, and yet frightening book. It covers everyday people whose lives were torn apart by negligence, corruption, human error, and ignorance. Its intensity is driven by the knowledge that these are true stories. After reading the book, I attended a lecture by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld at a law school. Excellent as well! The frightening ascept is that wrongful imprisonment could happen to any one of us. There but for fortune go you or I.

This is a terrifying but important book that should be read by everyone with an interest in the American judicial system and a concern for justice. Regardless of your position on the death penalty or other artifacts of the tough on crime spree this country has seen over the last several decades, it's hard to see how you can object to attempts to ensure people are put behind bars only for crimes they are in fact guilty of.

Scheck and Neufeld have convincingly shown there are serious flaws in our judicial system which cause many people to be convicted of crimes they did not commit. They show this primarily by use of DNA testing and explain with compelling case histories how these convictions are obtained: faulty eyewitness testimony, lying snitches, coerced confessions, racism, falsified lab results, incompetent defense attorneys, and dishonest prosecutors. It doesn't help that we have a Supreme Court that seems more interested in expediting the process than in ensuring justice.

The current scandal with the Ramparts division of the LAPD is a vivid reminder of how bad matters are, even though it "only" involves lying police officers and prosecutors willing to accept "testilying".

The DNA evidence can't really be argued against. My guess is that defenders of the current system will try to ignore the work done by these two and others. We know that when finally forced to do pay attention the conviction of innocents, the morally and intellectually bankrupt argument is made that the fact of overturning the convictions is proof the system works. I predict that when DNA evidence finally does start freeing even more wrongly convicted, the argument will be that things are now cleaned up and we can safely conclude the problem to be solved. Of course, it won't have been. Only those few cases where DNA evidence is available will be cleared.

"Actual Innocence" closes with a series of suggestions for improving the system to decrease the number of innocent people convicted. They are sensible and it's hard to see how they could be argued against, except perhaps by saying it's too expensive to keep honest people out of prison. Or even alive, since we do have a death penalty in this country. Again, the likely prospect is that an attempt will be made to ignore the proposals.

The only possible improvement I can see to this book would have been a chapter dedicated to making a case for how many innocents are routinely being convicted. Careful and conservative estimates for how often this happens based on the data available might be a key piece in discussing the subject with others. The message is there if you're awake while you read the book, but can get lost in the specific miscarriages of justice described.

Actual Innocence is a well written book about fatal errors of humans in the law system, the people who lost their freedom because of it, and the fight of devoted lawyers who work pro-bone to give them their well deserved freedom back. It is written with clear words and without exaggerated emotions. It opens our eyes for the injustice that can happen to each of us. On the example of 10 people who experienced this injustice, the authors illustrate without any beatitude the necessity for changes and how important the DNA tests are going to become for the law system. Everybody should read this book because it concerns all of us.

In this book the authors do not only discuss the plethora of cases in recent years in which DNA has resulted in the release of wrongly-convicted prisoners. They also take a close look at what caused these wrongful convictions in the first place. The chapters discuss a whole range of problems which lead to wrongful convictions from erroneous identifications to "junk science" to overzealous law enforcement and prosecution, and more.

The most sobering point is that DNA -- which only has been useful for a few years -- can exonerate a prisoner ONLY IF the perpetrator left a smidgen of his DNA behind. Since this occurs in a small subset of cases (rapes and some murders), there is no way to prove easily that someone has been wrongfully convicted in other situations.

Rather than just point out the problems which result in wrongful convictions, the authors offer numerous suggestions, both throughout the text and in the conclusion. The most obvious one, which has only been adopted by a couple of states, is that, whether or not you are for or against the death penalty, executions should be suspended automatically until DNA evidence can be reviewed, if available. (Are you listening George W.?)

Actual Innocence Reviewer: Jonathan Masere Pastor Neimoeller, a victim of the Nazis of Germany said:

"First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist. Next they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me."

I am quoting this statement because it harkens back to the constant denials by mainstream America concerning the asymmetric application of the justice system. Blacks, of which I am one, and other ethnic minorities have been complaining about how they are chaffing under the legal system. Blood-curdling cries of foul were and still are dismissed as nothing but the incessant symptoms of the persecution syndrome. America could not be so dangerously wrong and this book bears testimony to that. This abuse of power is deeply entrenched. At the beginning, blacks had to bear its brunt and now it has started spreading its tentacles to poor white men. The affluent better pay heed to what is going on because, like Pastor Neimoeller found out, by the time those tentacles reach for them, there will be nobody left to help them. This book ought to serve as an alarm bell. It is well written and straight to the point. I would recommend its inculcation into law school carricula.

"Actual Innocence" is a legal term that refers to the wrongfully convicted. Being 'actually innocent' is not grounds for a release from prison in the criminal justice system without a new trial (Sheppard vs. Ohio). This decision must be made in a court of law, not in some laboratory. The 'Preface' tells of the beginning of the "Innocence Project" which uses DNA tests to free convicts who were innocent (p.xiv). This has "exposed a system of law that has been far too complacent about its fairness and accuracy" (p.xv). It can be due to: mistaken eyewitnesses, racism, rigged lab tests, inattentive defense lawyers, lying prosecutors. [We know how DNA evidence can be forged or fabricated, like fingerprints. There is no limit to human error.] But DNA tests only work with biological evidence, and they wonder how many were wrongfully convicted in other crimes? "Eyewitness error remains the single most important cause of wrongful convictions. If the prosecution holds back the evidence for DNA tests, a conviction prevents the right to have them done" (p.xvi). William Rehnquist agreed! Government statistics do not keep track of the number of innocent persons who are convicted (p.xvii).

Eyewitness testimony was known to be unreliable in the 19th century (Mass. vs. Borden), especially when the people are not well-known to each other. Are false confessions the obverse of misidentification? Chapter 4 explains why you should never talk to the police without your lawyer present. Police are rewarded for closing cases not leaving them open. Prosecutors are also responsible for false convictions (p.101), especially in this case (p.105). Chapter 5 discusses "scientific evidence"as it has been presented in far too many cases. How many other cases has prosecutorial perjury been passed for science (p.116)? This will continue until there are independent laboratories that are reliable. [See the book "Tainting Evidence".] Chapter 6 has examples of prosecutorial perjury. Could hairs be planted for evidence (p.151)? Page 157 tells of safeguards against false information. Chapter 7 deals with the "junk science" of hair analysis and its weaknesses (p.162). There is a need to regulate crime laboratories (p.170). Chapter 8 tells of "harmless error", deliberate misstatements used to convict suspects (pp.174-175). A prosecutor can't be sued for knowingly allowing perjured testimony (p.180)! Are Federal prosecutors exempt from ethical rules (p.181)?

Chapter 9 shows the need for capable defense lawyers. Does the low pay for indigents' lawyers in Texas result in a higher number of executions (p.189)? President Clinton and Speaker Newton Gingrich made it easier to convict the innocent (p.190)! Public defenders are overworked and underpaid (p.191). Chapter 10 tells how "Race" can result in the conviction of a man later found innocent by DNA evidence. Chapter 11 shows how a heinous crime demands a conviction. The need to cover the face of a suspect is to avoid false witnessing (p.215). Page 217 tells how an innocent comment can be twisted into a sign of guilt. One out of eight condemned to death is later freed as totally innocent (p.218)! Chapter 12 tells of the problems facing the wrongly convicted. The test for counterfeiting evidence is on pages 236-237. Sometimes people see what they believe, not the other way around (p.237). Chapter 13 has lessons from crimes. Conviction of an innocent may mask a serial murderer (p.244). If DNA tests were done right away it could eliminate suspects (p.245). [Unless a blood sample would be used to frame a suspect.] No state has an Innocence Commission to review convictions (p.246).
Appendix 1 has a short list of reforms to protect the innocent.

Erle Stanley Gardner and the "Court of Last Resort" pioneered investigations into the wrongfully convicted around 1948 (p.249). Gardner's advocacy for the use of forensic science educated generations of his readers. His books outsold the totals of his competitors. "Potboilers"? Shame on the authors!