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Read the Introduction
"Goulda]has produced a book that will ensure that the lessons
from these wrongful convictions are available for study and, we
hope, remembered and used to enact needed reformsa]this book is a
valuable addition to what we are learning about wrongful
convictions."
--WAMU-FM The Kojo Nnamdi Show
"Gould's book...is a masterpiece of the genre. He combines
big-picture legal theory with details from a dozen Virginia
miscarriages of justice, including mistaken eyewitness
identification and prosecutorial misconduct."
--Steve Weinberg, "The Legal Times"
Convicted Yet Innocent: The Legal Times Review
aA thoughtful and disturbing account of his founding in 2003 of
the Innocence Commission for Virginia (ICVA) to investigate
wrongful convictions. . . . Written for the general public, Gould's
book has important lessons for attorneys and policymakers as
well.a
--"Library Journal"
aThe Innocence Commission adds to the scholarship in the area of
wrongful convictions in several important ways and with riveting
case descriptions.a
--Daniel S. Medwed, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of
Law
DNA testing and advances in forensic science have shaken the
foundations of the U.S. criminal justice system. One of the most
visible results is the exoneration of inmates who were wrongly
convicted and incarcerated, many of them sentenced to death for
crimes they did not commit. This has caused a quandary for many
states: how can claims of innocence be properly investigated and
how can innocent inmates be reliably distinguished from the guilty?
In answer, some states have created ainnocence commissionsa to
establish policies andprovide legal assistance to the improperly
imprisoned.
The Innocence Commission describes the creation and first years
of the Innocence Commission for Virginia (ICVA), the second
innocence commission in the nation and the first to conduct a
systematic inquiry into all cases of wrongful conviction. Written
by Jon B. Gould, the Chair of the ICVA, who is a professor of
justice studies and an attorney, the author focuses on twelve
wrongful conviction cases to show how and why wrongful convictions
occur, what steps legal and state advocates took to investigate the
convictions, how these prisoners were ultimately freed, and what
lessons can be learned from their experiences.
Gould recounts how a small band of attorneys and other advocates
-- in Virginia and around the country -- have fought wrongful
convictions in court, advanced the subject of wrongful convictions
in the media, and sought to remedy the issue of wrongful
convictions in the political arena. He makes a strong case for the
need for Innocence Commissions in every state, showing that not
only do Innocence Commissions help to identify weaknesses in the
criminal justice system and offer workable improvements, but also
protect society by helping to ensure that actual perpetrators are
expeditiously identified, arrested, and brought to trial. Everyone
has an interest in preventing wrongful convictions, from police
officers and prosecutors, who seek the latest and best
investigative techniques, to taxpayers, who want an efficient
criminal justice system, to suspects who are erroneously pursued
and sometimes convicted.
Free of legal jargon and written for a general audience, The
Innocence Commission is instructive, informative, andhighly
compelling reading.
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