The Importance Of Exoneration

During a trial proof beyond a reasonable doubt must be proven. However if a defendant pleads guilty conviction happens without the chance of a trial, and making exoneration almost impossible. In order to appeal a sentence there must be a set trial and circumstantial reason such as the trial being unconstitutional. Twenty-three years and 873 exonerations is what this particular study is constructed of. One may ask themselves what race and gender is most prominent to being exonerated? According to the statistics in the study (), 93% observed exonerates were men and only 7% women. When considering race 92% of defendants were accounted for and 50% were black, 38% white, 11% Hispanic, and 2% Native American or Asian. () Defendants can become

Misclassification can exist when a defendant is exonerated when in fact they are innocent or when they are not exonerated and innocent. When decisions are made regarding the innocence of a defendant it is best to rely on the official decisions made in the court. If a defendant is confirmed guilty he or she was eliminated for the purpose of the study. Only defendants that were officially innocent were used for the study. There will always be errors it is just the question of how often they happen. When regarding direst appeals only 1-2% are reversed. () Exonerations occur when there is an error that constitutes the prosecution or court to reconsider a case, not all are tried. Defendants can often be misclassified as innocent or guilty. Numerous cases were found while conducting the study that could have been exonerated but the defendant accepted a plea bargain to avoid a trial. Consequently these defendants were unable to try for an appeal and exoneration because no trial was conducted and evidence was not

According to ______(), the average years needed for a conviction to end in an exoneration is 11.9, and 13 years if you count arrest. When regarding a serious crime it could take approximately 13 years for sexual assault and 12 years for a homicide. (p. 29) This could be due to a defendant serving their time before an exoneration is granted and being released. If a DNA case is being tried for exoneration the average time can last for 14 years, non DNA can take 11. When considering the statistics in the study it is safe to say that exonerations do happen pretty often. Unfortunatley some do go unnoticed and underrepresented. A way to eliminate the need for exonerations among the criminal justice system is to make sure there is accuracy and take careful consideration for each case even after conviction. Even though most defendants are guilty prosecution and the court need to keep in mind the possibility of error. The study that was conducted looked at the various statistics that are necessary for an exoneration. It is well written and easy to follow, and I believe this would be useful for criminal justice statistics if someone would want to study exonerations or have a starting point for