Eyewitness error, false confession, and false forensic evidence are the most common causes in wrongful convictions

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A study revealed the most common causes of wrongful convictions nationwide.

Western Michigan University revealed that eyewitness error, false confession, and false forensic evidence rank in the top 3 when cases are reviewed or DNA evidence is tested.

Eyewitness error is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in 72% of convictions overturned through DNA testing, says the report.

While eyewitness testimony can be persuasive evidence before a judge or jury, 30 years of strong social science research has proven that eyewitness identification is often unreliable. Research shows that the human mind is not like a tape recorder; we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall them like a tape that has been rewound. Instead, witness memory is like any other evidence at a crime scene; it must be preserved carefully and retrieved methodically, or it can be contaminated.

In case after case, DNA has proven what scientists already know—that eyewitness identification is frequently inaccurate.

In about 30% of DNA exoneration cases, innocent defendants made incriminating statements, delivered outright confessions, or pled guilty. These cases show that confessions are not always prompted by internal knowledge or actual guilt, but are sometimes motivated by external influences.

Since the late 1980s, DNA analysis has helped identify the guilty and exonerate the innocent nationwide. While DNA testing was developed through extensive scientific research at top academic centers, many other forensic techniques—such as hair microscopy, bite mark comparisons, firearm tool mark analysis, and shoe print comparisons—have never been subjected to rigorous scientific evaluation. Meanwhile, forensic techniques that have been properly validated—such as serology, commonly known as blood typing—are sometimes improperly conducted or inaccurately conveyed in trial testimony. In some cases, forensic analysts have fabricated results or engaged in other misconduct.

The other two elements detected in this type of cases are perjury and official misconduct.

In 18% of wrongful conviction cases overturned through DNA testing, an informant testified against the defendant at the original trial. Often, statements from people with incentives to testify—particularly incentives that are not disclosed to the jury—are the central evidence in convicting an innocent person.

Some wrongful convictions are caused by honest mistakes. But in far too many cases, the very people who are responsible for ensuring truth and justice—law enforcement officials and prosecutors—lose sight of these obligations and instead focus solely on securing convictions. The cases of wrongful convictions uncovered by DNA testing are filled with evidence of negligence, fraud, or misconduct by prosecutors or police departments.

A petition for a review of Antonio Chavez’s case by his sister Yvonne. The new evidence she has presented reflects some of the conclusions of this report.

Let’s support bringing justice to Antonio and José