A criminal case is started,
evidences are presented, witnesses give their testimonies, and the
defendant is declared guilty and meted the corresponding punishment.
This is a usual scenario in criminal courts all over the country.
What happens, however, if the defendant is actually innocent of the
crime he was accused of? Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of
those in the justice system, wrongful convictions do happen.
Conviction vs. Near Miss
Researchers who have looked
into wrongful convictions differentiate these from “near
misses” where those who were wrongly accused of a crime were
eventually acquitted or had charges against them dropped. Wrongful
convictions are terrible events, particularly when the accused has
already served all or part of the sentence, as no amount of
compensation or apologies can take back the unwarranted punishment
the accused had to go through.
Appeals Court
Those convicted of a crime
can, however, appeal the verdict in a higher court. In most appeal
cases, it is not the jury’s decision that is being challenged but
any legal errors that might have taken place during the trial. While
the lawyer who defended the accused in the trial can represent his
client in the appeals proceedings, attorneys who specialize in
appeals and post convictions are often called upon at this stage.
A convicted person may also
ask for a re-investigation and a new trial if new evidences or
developments that can point to his innocence are unearthed.
No comments:
Post a Comment