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False Confessions and Wrongful Convictions: Known Causes and Steps to Eliminate Them
Loaded on Dec. 1, 2024
by Douglas Ankney
published in Criminal Legal News
December, 2024, page 18
Filed under:
DNA Testing/Samples,
Wrongful Conviction,
False Statements/Perjury,
False Exculpatory Statements.
Location:
United States of America.
by Douglas Ankney
|
A |
s of February 2024, the National Registry of Exonerations (“NRE”) at the University of Michigan has registered 3,475 postconviction DNA and non-DNA exonerations since 1989—an average of 100 per year. Of those 3,475 exonerations, 438 (13%) were due to wrongful convictions (mostly for homicide and rape) ...
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More from this issue:
- Forensic Genetic Genealogy: Police Are Searching Genetic Genealogy Companies’ Databases Regardless of Whether They Have Permission, by Ann Foster, Matthew Clarke
- Montana Supreme Court: Expert Witness Testimony Presented Via Two-Way Video Conferencing Technology Violates Confrontation Clause, by Sam Rutherford
- Indigent Defense: Appointed Counsel Does Not Mean Free Counsel, by David Reutter
- Parole Rate Plummets in South Carolina, by Matthew Clarke
- Washington Supreme Court Announces Prohibition Against Use of ‘In-Court Holding Cell’ for Court Proceedings Without Individualized Determination of Need, by Sam Rutherford
- False Confessions and Wrongful Convictions: Known Causes and Steps to Eliminate Them, by Douglas Ankney
- Federal Court Rules Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Laws Violate Constitution, by Dale Chappell
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Announces Prosecution’s Duty to Provide Discoverable Evidence Upon Request Applies to Discoverable Items in Law Enforcement Agencies’ Possession Unbeknownst to Prosecution and Exclusion Is Appropriate Remedy for Violation, by Sam Rutherford
- Second Circuit Holds Full De Novo Resentencing Hearing Required Based on Partially Successful Habeas Petition Where Resentencing Judge Not Original Judge and Changed Circumstances Plausibly Alleged, by Sam Rutherford
- Michigan Supreme Court: Fundamentally Unfair to Deny Indigent Defendant Funds to Retain False Confession Expert Where Genuineness of Confession Key Issue at Trial, by Sam Rutherford
- Ninth Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to California Prisoner on Napue Claim Because Prosecution Failed to Correct Informant’s False Testimony That He Did Not Receive Any Benefit In Exchange for His Testimony, by Sam Rutherford
- Nevada Supreme Court Announces Incorporated Probable Cause Affidavit Cannot Broaden Scope of Warrant’s Description of Places and Persons to be Searched or Items to Be Seized, by Anthony Accurso
- Wrongfully Convicted Actor Exonerated After 24 Years in Prison
- Missouri Man Awarded Record $38 Million After Insurance Company Refuses to Pay Wrongful Conviction Settlement, by Sam Rutherford
- California Supreme Court Announces Uncharged and Unproven Offense-Specific Enhancements May Not Be Imposed Under § 1172.6(e) Resentencing, by Sam Rutherford
- Arkansas Supreme Court Announces Petition for Testing Forensic Evidence Based on Advances in Technology Under Act 1780 of 2001 May Be Filed by Anyone Convicted of a Crime, Not Just Those Still in State Custody, by Anthony Accurso
- Rhode Island Supreme Court: Officer Lacked Reasonable Suspicion for Terry Stop Based on Unsubstantiated, Anonymous Tip, by Sam Rutherford
- Third Circuit: Despite ‘Expressly and Repeatedly’ Requesting Low-End Sentence, Government Breached Plea Agreement by Emphasizing ‘Heinous’ Nature of Offense and Presenting Victim-Impact Evidence at Sentencing Thereby Undermining Recommendation, by Sam Rutherford
- Indiana Supreme Court: Defendant Entitled to Discharge by Showing No Court ‘Congestion’ After Trial Court’s Unexplained Denial of Speedy Trial Motion, by Sam Rutherford
- Mississippi Supreme Court: Defendant’s Guilty Plea Not Knowing and Voluntary Because He Was Not Informed of His Habitual Offender Status, by Sam Rutherford
- Washington Supreme Court: Judgment and Sentence Facially Invalid Based on Miscalculated Offender Score Despite Defendant’s Stipulation to Exceptional Sentence, by Sam Rutherford
- Cell-Site Simulator Proposal: A Glimpse Inside the Black Box Whose Secrets Are Protected by NDAs and Obfuscation, by Michael Thompson
- Chula Vista’s Police Drones, by Michael Thompson
- News In Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Third Circuit Upholds Award of $265,000 to Prisoner Who Was Sexually Assaulted Twice by the Same Guard, Aug. 1, 2025
- Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Second or Successive’ Under AEDPA, Aug. 1, 2025
- $340,000 for Former Massachusetts Prisoner Whose Baby Was Stillborn, July 15, 2025
- New Jersey Supreme Court Refuses Guard’s Challenge to Firing for Failing to Report Kiss with Prisoner, July 15, 2025
- New York City Loses Bid to Withhold Jail Records, July 15, 2025
- Eleventh Circuit Announces New Deliberate Indifference Framework in Dismissing Georgia Prisoner’s Claim for Skipped Anti-Seizure Meds, July 15, 2025
- Washington Jail Settles DOJ Allegations of ADA Noncompliance in Failure to Treat Opioid Use Disorder, July 15, 2025
- Ohio Supreme Court Says Sheriff Must Get and Disclose Records of Private Contractors, July 15, 2025
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025
- South Carolina Prisoners Granted Class-Action Status in Suit Over Low Wages in Prison Industries Jobs, July 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- Sixth Circuit Upholds $45 Million Verdict for Wrongfully Convicted Former Ohio Prisoner, Aug. 1, 2025. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- Two Exonerated Illinois Prisoners Win Settlements Totaling $14.5 Million, Aug. 1, 2025. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- Fourth Circuit Revives Wrongful Conviction Claim of Exonerated Maryland Prisoner, State Pays Him $3.1 Million, Aug. 1, 2025. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- Probabilistic Genotyping on Trial: Can We Trust the Secret Algorithms Deciding Guilt?, Aug. 1, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, Crime Labs, Blood Samples/Tests, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
- First of 10 Guards Charged with Killing of New York Prisoner Pleads Guilty, July 15, 2025. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), False Statements/Perjury.
- $22.5 Million Verdict Arrives Too Late for Wrongfully Convicted Illinois Prisoner, July 15, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Confessions - Coerced, Confessions and Statements of Defendant.
- $12 Million for Former California Prisoner Exonerated After 17 Years, July 15, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Coercive Interrogations.
- $7.75 Million Settlement for Exonerated North Carolina Prisoner, June 1, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- $13 Million Awarded to Exonerated Massachusetts Prisoner for Wrongful Conviction, June 1, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- Rejected by Conviction Integrity Unit, 27 New York Prisoners Exonerated Anyway, June 1, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Offense of Conviction.





