Surviving Justice America's Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated

by Eggers, Dave; Vollen, Lola; Turow, Scott

• ISBN13: 9781932416237
• ISBN10: 1932416234
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-04
• Publisher: McSweeney's

Summary

"After spending years behind bars, hundreds of men and women with incontrovertible proof of their innocence - including 120 from death row - have been released from America's prisons. They were wrongfully convicted because of problems that plague many criminal proceedings - inept defense lawyers, overzealous prosecutors, deceitful and coercive interrogation tactics, bad science, snitches, and eyewitness misidentification. The lives of these victims of the U.S. criminal justice system were effectively wrecked. Finally free, usually after more than a decade of incarceration, they re-enter society with nothing but the scars from a harrowing descent into prison only to struggle to survive on the outside." "The thirteen men and women portrayed here, and the hundreds of others who have been exonerated, are the tip of the iceberg. There are countless others - thousands by all estimates - who are in prison today for crimes they did not commit. These are the stories of some of the wrongfully convicted, who have managed, often by sheer luck, to prove their innocence. Their stories are spell-binding, heartbreaking, unimaginable, and ultimately inspiring. After reading these deeply personal accounts, you will never look at the criminal justice system the same way."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD by Scott Turow	xi
INTRODUCTION	1	(12)
I. CHRISTOPHER OCHOA: My Life Is a Broken Puzzle	13	(34)
Called Into Question: Deceptive police interrogation tactics result in false confessions	20	(22)
Hard to Relate: Exonerees often struggle with romantic relationships after release	42	(2)
The Politics of Apology: Exonerees endeavor to have their innocence fully acknowledged	44	(3)
II. JUAN ROBERTO MELENDEZ: My Mama Didn't Raise No Killers	47	(34)
Prosecutorial Misconduct: Misrepresentations by prosecutors factor into wrongful convictions	50	(8)
At the Breaking Point: Standards in U.S. prisons are often breached	58	(4)
Prisoners First, Humans Second: Health care in the nation's prisons leaves inmates suffering	62	(4)
Pushed to the Brink: Suicides in prison call policies and conditions into question	66	(15)
III. GARY GAUGER: I Stepped Into a Dream	81	(34)
A Useful Fiction: The reliability of polygraph tests is widely contested	92	(20)
The Psychological Toll of Wrongful Conviction: Post-traumatic stress disorder disrupts the psyches of exonerees	112	(3)
IV. JAMES NEWSOME: I Am the Expert	115	(32)
The Limits of Memory: Faulty identifications can lead to wrongful convictions	120	(4)
Race Matters: Whiter juries create racial bias in verdicts and sentencing	124	(4)
In-House Legal Expertise: Jailhouse lawyers exchange legal services for protection	128	(4)
School's Out: The once-thriving prison education system has been gutted	132	(15)
V. CALVIN WILLIS: Thank God for DNA	147	(30)
The Price of Proof: The high cost of DNA testing prolongs the exoneration process	156	(4)
The Cost of Lost Time: Compensation for exonerees varies widely across states	160	(17)
VI. JOHN STOLL: If a Five-Year-Old Says You Did It, You Did It	177	(26)
A Culture of Fear: A series of child abuse cases in the mid-1980's causes mass hysteria	186	(4)
Losing Touch with Reality: Solitary confinement causes psychological problems for inmates	190	(8)
Lessons Not Learned: Justice system lacks official review of erroneous convictions	198	(5)
VII. BEVERLY MONROE: Now I Question Everything	203
The Right to Remain Silent: The innocent often waive Miranda rights—to their peril	112	(106)
Selling Out: Snitches provide testimony in exchange for favors	218
VIII. MICHAEL EVANS AND PAUL TERRY: Sheep Amongst Wolves	149	(130)
Freeing the Innocent: Innocence projects fight for the wrongfully convicted	256	(4)
Life after Exoneration: Many exonerees leave prison with little help and nowhere to go	260	(19)
IX. DAVID POPE: I'm Still Twenty-Four	279	(42)
Flawed Experts, Faulty Evidence: Defunct technology and incompetent experts obstruct justice	290	(8)
No One Else to Turn To: Exonerees turn to religion when the justice system ignores them	298	(23)
X. JOSEPH AMRINE: I'm a Dead Man Walking	321	(44)
Defenseless: Ineffective counsel places the innocent at risk	326	(12)
Predators and Prey: U.S. inmates face dangerous, even guard-sponsored sexual abuse	338	(6)
A Controlled Type of Chaos: Sexual assaults, vendettas, and gangs wreak havoc	344	(4)
An Irreversible Mistake: Death row exoneration repose the risk of wrongful executions	348	(17)
XI. PETER ROSE: Family Man	365	(30)
So Much Time Lost: Exonerees struggle to reestablish relationships with their children	368	(6)
A Victim Again: Harsh interview tactics re-traumatize crime victims	374	(12)
The Magic Bullet: DNA technology is often the only hope for the wrongfully convicted	386	(9)
XII. KEVIN GREEN: Bad Things Happen to Good People	395	(38)
Grief and Suspicion: Wrongful conviction doubles the pain for victims of spousal murder	400	(10)
An Imperfect Union: Marriages in prison present challenges for exonerees	410	(6)
A Double-Bind: Maintaining innocence makes parole nearly impossible	416	(17)
XIII. EXONEREE ROUNDTABLE: People Don't Know How Lucky They Are to Have Their Liberty	433	(18)
APPENDIX A: Criminal Confessions and Interrogations	451	(8)
APPENDIX B: Rape Victim Interrogation	459	(6)
APPENDIX C: Massachusetts Compensation Law	465	(7)
APPENDIX D: State by State Compensation Laws	472	(3)
APPENDIX E: Reform Recommendations	475	(4)
GLOSSARY	479