Curtis McGhee Case Exoneration

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Recommended: Ethical violations within law enforcement

Curtis McGhee Case Exoneration
Intro:
Curtis McGhee is 17-year-old Black male who lived in Iowa. In 1977, he was charged for the murder of John Schweer who worked as a security guard at a car dealership. Later on in 1978, he was sentenced to life in prison for a murder that he never committed. Later on in 2011, McGhee was exonerated based on the police file and court’s transcript that was found, and which indicated that McGhee was a innocent man behind bars, and he was serving time for a crime that he never took in part of committing. This case of Curtis McGhee raises a question on our criminal justice system and it leads us to confirm that miscarriages of justice do occur, and there should be various reforms that should be made so these miscarriages can be prevented from occurring in the future.
How did the miscarriage of justice occur?
Curtis McGhee was charged for the murder of John Schweer who worked as a security guard at a car dealership. Even though there were various suspects after the crime McGhee was charged based on a false statement, which was made by Kevin Hughes. Kevin Hughes was under police investigation for a stolen car ring, however while he was under police investigations the detectives pressured and instructed Hughes to confess, and Hughes stated that he, Harrington, and McGhee attempted to steal a car where Schweer used to work, and when he came to check Harrington shot him with a shotgun.
This statement led Harrington and McGhee to get arrested and get charged with murder, which led both to go on trial separately. McGhee was sentenced to life in prison based on the testimony, which was given, by Hughes and three other jail inmates, who stated that McGhee had admitted in participating in the murder of Sch...

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... exchange for his testimony (Source). This case exemplifies that false accusations of informants can have a significant effect on someone’s life, and it can lead someone innocent to be committed for a crime that they never committed.
Similarly, in Curtis McGhee case Kevin Hughes was depicting the role of an informant, because he gave a false testimony against McGhee in exchange for dropping of charges and reward money. A jury convicted McGhee based on the testimony of Hughes as well as three jail inmates who said that McGhee had admitted participating in the murder. He was sentenced to life in prison
What does this miscarriage of justice reveal about our criminal justice system? o We need to have a better:
• Police investigations
• Prosecution needs to be monitored
What remedial measures might be adopted to prevent future miscarriages of justice like this one?

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