Innocence Project and State Bar Association Urge Lawmakers To Enact Reforms to Reduce Wrongful Convictions

Speakers:

Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence Project

Vincent Doyle, President, New York State Bar Association

Assembly member Joseph R. Lentol, Chair, Assembly Codes Committee

Stephen Barnes and Fernando Bermudez, exonerees

Sylvia Barnes, mother of Stephen Barnes

The Innocence Project and the New York State Bar Association have long advocated for reforms that would greatly reduce wrongful convictions and enhance public safety. These reforms would increase the accuracy of eyewitness identifications, ensure videotaping of interrogations and give innocent individuals more robust access to DNA to prove their innocence.

Innocent people should not go to prison for crimes they did not commit. Nor should the guilty go free so they can commit new crimes. Those advocating for a bill that would expand the state DNA database say that is their goal.

The Senate bill fails to take into account the lessons learned from the 289 DNA exonerations nationwide: 75% of the DNA exonerations occurred partly because of eyewitness misidentification; about 50% partly because of invalid or improper forensic evidence; and approximately 25% because of a false confession or statement. Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey, Connecticut and other states have recognized that simple reforms in these areas can greatly minimize the possibility of wrongful conviction.

New York can and should become a national leader in adopting the reforms that can best prevent wrongful convictions and protect the public. Because when the wrong person is convicted of a crime, the real perpetrator is left free to commit other crimes.