Post by thinkinkmesa on May 7, 2007 11:07:38 GMT -5
The Plain Dealer
Cleveland.com
Sunday, May 06, 2007
When the state of Ohio put James Filiaggi to death last month, at least there was no doubt that he had killed his former wife, Lisa, in 1994. He never denied it; his defense was based on his mental state, not an alibi. Finally, Filiaggi seemed resigned to paying the ultimate price.
But others on death row, in Ohio and throughout the country, maintain their innocence to the bitter end. Most are doubtless lying, perhaps even to themselves. But a society that imposes capital punishment - a sentence this editorial board has long opposed - must always ask: What if this person is innocent? Could there be a greater miscarriage of justice than the state taking a life in error?
Those questions seem especially relevant now. Last month, an Illinois judge wiped out the conviction of Jerry Miller, an Army veteran who spent 25 years behind bars for a rape that new DNA evidence proved he did not commit. Miller's was the 200th conviction overturned using DNA since 1989, according to the Innocence Project. Those exonerations come from 31 states. Six were in Ohio. Fourteen of them rescued men from death rows. A quarter overturned cases in which the defendant had confessed. Sixty percent of the wrongly convicted defendants were black, like Miller, or Latino.
Attorneys with the Innocence Project, a New York-based group that has played a role in many of the DNA exonerations, say these 200 cases are just the tip of the iceberg. They argue that if science can prove this many convictions baseless, it at least implies that many more were as well. That logic infuriates prosecutors, who insist that mistakes at trial are rare and those that do occur represent only the tiniest sliver of cases. And yet even aberrations cry out for explanation, especially when a defendant's life may be at stake.
Several states have established criminal justice reform commissions comprising leading attorneys, judges and legal scholars. They review every mistaken conviction to see what went wrong and, when appropriate, suggest changes in investigative or judicial procedures to safeguard against future errors. Since many of the wrongful convictions disproved by DNA were based on mistaken eyewitnesses - think locally of the Michael Green case - several states are considering changing the way lineups and other identification efforts are conducted. In New Jersey, concern about false confessions led the state attorney general to order police to videotape interrogations related to violent crimes.
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann says he is open to suggestions that might improve the quality of justice. He also says it might be time for the state to examine the death penalty with an eye to whether it serves the interests of crime victims and society. That would be useful, as would a review panel to follow up on wrongful convictions.
If Ohio, or any other state, wants to be in the execution business, it had better be sure that those on death row belong there.
Cleveland.com
Sunday, May 06, 2007
When the state of Ohio put James Filiaggi to death last month, at least there was no doubt that he had killed his former wife, Lisa, in 1994. He never denied it; his defense was based on his mental state, not an alibi. Finally, Filiaggi seemed resigned to paying the ultimate price.
But others on death row, in Ohio and throughout the country, maintain their innocence to the bitter end. Most are doubtless lying, perhaps even to themselves. But a society that imposes capital punishment - a sentence this editorial board has long opposed - must always ask: What if this person is innocent? Could there be a greater miscarriage of justice than the state taking a life in error?
Those questions seem especially relevant now. Last month, an Illinois judge wiped out the conviction of Jerry Miller, an Army veteran who spent 25 years behind bars for a rape that new DNA evidence proved he did not commit. Miller's was the 200th conviction overturned using DNA since 1989, according to the Innocence Project. Those exonerations come from 31 states. Six were in Ohio. Fourteen of them rescued men from death rows. A quarter overturned cases in which the defendant had confessed. Sixty percent of the wrongly convicted defendants were black, like Miller, or Latino.
Attorneys with the Innocence Project, a New York-based group that has played a role in many of the DNA exonerations, say these 200 cases are just the tip of the iceberg. They argue that if science can prove this many convictions baseless, it at least implies that many more were as well. That logic infuriates prosecutors, who insist that mistakes at trial are rare and those that do occur represent only the tiniest sliver of cases. And yet even aberrations cry out for explanation, especially when a defendant's life may be at stake.
Several states have established criminal justice reform commissions comprising leading attorneys, judges and legal scholars. They review every mistaken conviction to see what went wrong and, when appropriate, suggest changes in investigative or judicial procedures to safeguard against future errors. Since many of the wrongful convictions disproved by DNA were based on mistaken eyewitnesses - think locally of the Michael Green case - several states are considering changing the way lineups and other identification efforts are conducted. In New Jersey, concern about false confessions led the state attorney general to order police to videotape interrogations related to violent crimes.
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann says he is open to suggestions that might improve the quality of justice. He also says it might be time for the state to examine the death penalty with an eye to whether it serves the interests of crime victims and society. That would be useful, as would a review panel to follow up on wrongful convictions.
If Ohio, or any other state, wants to be in the execution business, it had better be sure that those on death row belong there.