Guilty or Innocent

Imagine someone being locked up in a cell for 25 years convicted of a crime he or she did not commit. This person whom has been locked up for all these years has been telling everyone that he or she is innocent of the crime they were convicted of. Even though this person was telling everyone this, nobody believed him or her for a long- time. Until one day, someone believed that persons story. With many people in prison, others tend to overlook the fact that some of those people are wrongfully convicted; there are many reasons for this wrongful conviction. More than 350 innocent people in prison since 1989 that have been exonerated and released from prison (Eppler. 2009, Para. 3).The most common wrongful conviction is eyewitness error. Many who are wrongfully convicted some of which are very famous in history such as Dr. Rubin (Hurricane) Carter. There have been exonerations in 34 of the 50 states since the twenty-first century begun. Many people who are or were convicted of a crime in which they did not commit. According to Eppler (2009) a study of all exonerations DNA and non-DNA has found that there have been more than 350 people wrongfully convicted and subsequently exonerated in the United States since 1989. (Para. 3) In 1989 the first DNA exoneration took place, which was for Gary Dotson. Gary Dotson was proven innocent of being convicted of rape. Since there has been thousands and thousands of DNA testing to prove that people were wrongfully convicted. There are those people who believe that if a person was or is put in prison then there must be a reason for it, without taking into consideration that the people may have been wrongfully convicted.
There are many different reasons for wrongful convictions that have been discovered in capital cases and many other cases some of the causes of wrongful conviction are; eye witness error, junk science, government misconduct, snitch testimony, false confessions, and biased juries. Eyewitness errors are where

References: Deal, C. (1975). Hurricane Carter. The other side of the story. Retrieved October 16, 2009. From http://www.graphicwitness.com/carter/carterjail.html Dieter, R. (2009). Causes of Wrongful Convictions. Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved September 17, 2009 Eppler, D. (2009). Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project. Exonerate.org. Retrieved September 17, 2009, from http://www.exonerate.org/facts/ Equal Justice Initiative. (2009). EJI-Wrongful Convictions. Retrieved September 17, 2009, From http://www.eji.org/eji/deathpenalty/wrongfulconvictions Marshal, L. (2006). Northwestern Law. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://www.law.northwestern.edu/cwc/exonerations/iDotsonSummary.html Stoddard, Ed. (2008). DNA frees Texas man imprisoned for 27 years. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2938136220080430