Since the USA gives police, DA, juries, judges the greater benefit of doubt, less than 1% of police are convicted of killing civilians White are non-White. While more Whites are killed proportionally to the general population Black body counts are the highest for unarmed victims.
Per the findings of the study below the state has a high number of men and women in lock up that should not be there.
Fast facts:
1989: The first DNA exoneration took place
37: States where exonerations have been won
20 of 342 people exonerated served time on death row
14: Average length of time served by exonerees
4,658: Total number of years served
26.5: Average age of exonerees at the time of their wrongful conviction
42: Average age at exoneration
36 of 342: Pled guilty to crimes they did not commit
71%: Involved eyewitness misidentification
46%: Involved misapplication of forensic science
28%: Involved false confessions
16%: Involved informants
245: DNA exonerees compensated
178: DNA exonerations worked on by the Innocence Project
147: True suspects and/or perpetrators identified. Those actual perpetrators went on to be convicted of 146 additional violent crimes, including 77 sexual assaults, 34 murders, and 35 other violent crimes while the innocent sat behind bars for their earlier offenses.
Races of the 342 exonerees:
210 African Americans
105 Caucasians
25 Latinos
2 Asian Americans
How DNA makes a difference in the criminal justice system
Since 1989, there have been tens of thousands of cases where prime suspects were identified and pursued—until DNA testing (prior to conviction) proved that they were wrongly accused.
In more than 25% of cases in a National Institute of Justice study, suspects were excluded once DNA testing was conducted during the criminal investigation (the study, conducted in 1995, included 10,060 cases where testing was performed by FBI labs).
An Innocence Project review of our closed cases from 2004 – June 2015 revealed that 29% of cases were closed because of lost or destroyed evidence.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/dna-exonerations-in-the-united-states/
Per the findings of the study below the state has a high number of men and women in lock up that should not be there.
Fast facts:
1989: The first DNA exoneration took place
37: States where exonerations have been won
20 of 342 people exonerated served time on death row
14: Average length of time served by exonerees
4,658: Total number of years served
26.5: Average age of exonerees at the time of their wrongful conviction
42: Average age at exoneration
36 of 342: Pled guilty to crimes they did not commit
71%: Involved eyewitness misidentification
46%: Involved misapplication of forensic science
28%: Involved false confessions
16%: Involved informants
245: DNA exonerees compensated
178: DNA exonerations worked on by the Innocence Project
147: True suspects and/or perpetrators identified. Those actual perpetrators went on to be convicted of 146 additional violent crimes, including 77 sexual assaults, 34 murders, and 35 other violent crimes while the innocent sat behind bars for their earlier offenses.
Races of the 342 exonerees:
210 African Americans
105 Caucasians
25 Latinos
2 Asian Americans
How DNA makes a difference in the criminal justice system
Since 1989, there have been tens of thousands of cases where prime suspects were identified and pursued—until DNA testing (prior to conviction) proved that they were wrongly accused.
In more than 25% of cases in a National Institute of Justice study, suspects were excluded once DNA testing was conducted during the criminal investigation (the study, conducted in 1995, included 10,060 cases where testing was performed by FBI labs).
An Innocence Project review of our closed cases from 2004 – June 2015 revealed that 29% of cases were closed because of lost or destroyed evidence.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/dna-exonerations-in-the-united-states/