In 1989, Texas executed Carlos DeLuna, a poor Hispanic man with
childlike intelligence, for the murder of Wanda Lopez, a
convenience store clerk. His execution passed unnoticed for years
until a team of Columbia Law School faculty and students almost
accidentally chose to investigate his case and found that DeLuna
almost certainly was innocent. They discovered that no one had
cared enough about either the defendant or the victim to make sure
the real perpetrator was found. Everything that could go wrong in a
criminal case did. This book documents DeLuna's conviction, which
was based on a single, nighttime, cross-ethnic eyewitness
identification with no corroborating forensic evidence. At his
trial, DeLuna's defense, that another man named Carlos had
committed the crime, was not taken seriously. The lead prosecutor
told the jury that the other Carlos, Carlos Hernandez, was a
"phantom" of DeLuna's imagination. In upholding the death penalty
on appeal, both the state and federal courts concluded the same
thing: Carlos Hernandez did not exist. The evidence the Columbia
team uncovered reveals that Hernandez not only existed but was well
known to the police and prosecutors. He had a long history of
violent crimes similar to the one for which DeLuna was executed.
Families of both Carloses mistook photos of each for the other, and
Hernandez's violence continued after DeLuna was put to death. This
book and its website (thewrongcarlos.net) reproduce
law-enforcement, crime lab, lawyer, court, social service, media,
and witness records, as well as court transcripts, photographs,
radio traffic, and audio and videotaped interviews, documenting one
of the most comprehensive investigations into a criminal case in
U.S. history. The result is eye-opening yet may not be unusual.
Faulty eyewitness testimony, shoddy legal representation, and
prosecutorial misfeasance continue to put innocent people at risk
of execution. The principal investigators conclude with novel
suggestions for improving accuracy among the police, prosecutors,
forensic scientists, and judges.
General
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