False Convictions: Who is to Blame, the System or the People?

Sixteen years into a "15 years-to-life" sentence, Jeff Doskovic was officially acknowledged as innocent for the alleged murder and rape of Andrea Correa. After being incarcerated at the age of sixteen, his protests were ignored for years before they were finally heard by The Innocence Project, whose representatives allowed for him to receive the proper DNA testing. Following his release from prison in November 2006 (pictured left), Doskovic began his awareness promotion programs for those falsely convicted. In a recent article published on AlterNet.org, he identifies "misconduct at every stage of the criminal justice system" and outlines the numerous causes for false convictions, as well as new methods to ensure a stronger system to prevent wrongful imprisonment. Through a combination of deceitful testimonies, forced confessions, and falsified evidence, Doskovic found himself in a lifelong prison sentence, leaving him to blame the system and the people behind it. Thus, he calls for reform within the field so as to prevent the future occurrence of such wrongful convictions. Similarly, many others have argued that the disadvantages of the system have allowed for the large amount of incorrect incarcerations. Through increased contributions in technology and psychology, the criminal justice system has been able to take large strides towards the reduced occurrence of wrongful convictions and correcting the errors of previous trials. Regardless of these advances, wrongful convictions still remain prevalent through sheer human error and lackluster in the performance and impartiality of law enforcement officials.

Particularly in Doskovic's case, one of the key reasons for his unjust incarceration was a direct result of a lack in DNA evidence. Within the past 20 years, DNA has emerged as a means of exonerations, resulting in a sharp increase in the release of wrongfully convicted individuals (as seen to the right). In a study done by Samuel R. Gross, analyzing exoneration statistics from the years 1989 to 2003, of the total 340 cases included in the study, 121 were of rape and these 121 cases, 105 were cleared on the basis of DNA evidence. Additionally, in 2004, President Bush signed the Justice For All Act, which included the Innocence Protection Act; this ensured that all federal inmates were given the right to petition for DNA testing. Even with these safeguards, Doskovic's rights were violated through a persistent denial of any sort of DNA examination and were ignored for an additional two years, although the Act was enacted in 2004. As indicated in the Report on the Conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic, his requests were only heard at the arrival of the new Westchester County DA. In addition to the injustices in denying Deskovic his requests, one of the greatest issues concerning his case involved police apathy regarding scientific evidence found. During the investigation following the rape, the seminal fluid found in the victim's body excluded Deskovic as a perpetrator, however, the Assistant District Attorney was still convinced of his guilt. Regardless of their accuracy and availability, the DNA and scientific evidence was disregarded by those involved in the case. It was only years later that their error was uncovered using the technique which would have spared them a life-altering, false conviction. Had the officials been unbiased and more detailed in their investigations, this young man would not have lost many critical years of his life. Clearly, criminal justice has the means of establishing correct convictions if not for the poor performance of those operating the system.

Beyond scientific tools, the usage of testimonials and interrogation are also resourceful in the eliciting of truthful evidence in such cases. Particularly through the use of polygraph tests and recorded interrogations, psychologists and police officers are able to make correct judgments on the validity of defendants' statements. However, the uses of these devices are often tampered with in the same way that the DNA evidence from Deskovic's case was tossed aside. According the Report given to District Attorney Janet DiFiore, only 35 minutes of the four hour interrogation of Deskovic was recorded; this may have been to the advantage or detriment of Deskovic. The report goes further to identify that "[t]he whole case against him had been built upon a series of his own statements, most of them unrecorded, culminating in an allegedly incriminating statement, which was entirely unrecorded and which was elicited only after a lengthy, confrontational polygraph examination." Despite outlined guidelines from the American Psychological Association which were established to prevent against the unjust treatment, interrogators of Deskovic, among others have been reported to utilize harsh and illegal techniques. In his article, Deskovic states that "scare tactics, threats of violence, food deprivation, being lied to regarding lie detector results and being told that you can go home if you cooperate" have been the cause for many false confessions, including his own. The Innocence Project identifies that confessions from juveniles, such as Deskovic's, are often used and often unreliable because "children can be easy to manipulate and are not always fully aware of their situation." Undoubtedly, the officers interrogating Deskovic utilizes these forceful tactics in order to gain a confession from him, regardless of the validity. In this case, once again, it is illustrated that regardless of the proper tools and structured system, it is through the actions of the participating individuals that define the success and failure of convictions. Their actions, whether appropriate or corrupt, dictate the result of the conviction.

Government misconduct plays a strong hand in many wrongful convictions, with inappropriate actions and poor decision-making producing innumerable errors in incarcerations. There is the common claim that the functions of the criminal justice system are to blame for these discrepancies, however much of the blame lies in the hands of law enforcement officials. Through tactics such as forced confessions, exclusion of evidence, tampering with evidence and illegal interrogations these officials abuse and ignore the advances in the arena of criminal justice. Thus, the pitfalls in the system of trying alleged criminals can be traced back directly to those individuals who fail to fulfill their designated duties honorably. Today's advanced technology allows for more accuracy in identifying and convicting felons, however, without the help the professionals trained to use such tools honorably, the system is no better now than it was years ago. As a result, individuals such as Jeffrey Deskovic given life-altering and unjust convictions and society is left blaming an otherwise functional system.