DNA Exoneration: Sometimes they really are guilty

[polimicks]

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1128012.html

This article examines the statistical success of The Innocence Project's DNA testing program. 43% of the inmates who request the DNA testing are exonerated by it. However, the figure many people don't talk about is the 42% who have their guilt verified by the testing they demand, which they say will prove their innocence. Also, in 15% of requests the DNA testing is inconclusive, or testable samples have not survived.

Now I've heard people talking about the "successes" of the Innocence Project, people (mostly men) exonerated and released from prison or granted new trials because of their work. But people forget that the other 42% are successes as well. They are proof that in these cases the system DID work. The cops DID put away the right guy.

No one is exactly sure why guys who must know they are guilty request the testing. Perhaps they convince themselves of their innocence so they can sleep at night. Maybe they really just don't see anything wrong with what they did. I'm sure there will be some really interesting Psychology theses coming out of these cases in the near future. Let alone concerning these idealistic young law students and their instructors and mentors who believe these guys when they protest their innocence.

But this is just a heads up, even when the DNA doesn't exonerate the guy, it's still a success.

Comments

[mojrim.livejournal.com]

It would be as Zabieru pointed out. A plea of "not guilty" (and all attendant measures to prove it) is a right of every defendant when faced with the awsome power of the state. Punishing people for demanding any sort of defense would be like adding a charge of "entering a false plea" or some such.