Uncensored Justice System Discussion

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

I know it's been a while since this topic came up, so I thought I would revisit it.

HOW can wrongful convictions be prevented? There's more than just one way, but unless we can have a free and honest exchange of ideas on the different ways that wrongful convictions can be prevented BEFORE they happen, I don't see anything changing, anytime soon.

It's only my opinion of course, but I'd have to say one of the ways more wrongful convictions can be prevented is for defendants to know how to reach the BEST and MOST EFFECTIVE criminal defense attorneys in their city and state, or even in the country. How can ANYONE, who knows he/she's been accused of a crime and may be arrested at any time, especially when they are innocent of any criminal wrongdoing, know WHO is the best or most effective simply by looking in the local Yellow Pages? I certainly wouldn't know simply by looking at all the various ads, and I doubt anyone else could either.

What if the accused person or anyone in his/her family doesn't know any lawyers at all, let alone a good criminal defense attorney? The way I see it, that person is REALLY in trouble, even if they have the money to hire private defense counsel. Are there any directories that feature the BEST and MOST EFFECTIVE criminal defense attorneys nationwide? If there are, I haven't seen them printed or even advertised.

Of course, getting the most effective criminal defense doesn't do the WHOLE job, but it's a big part of it. Anyone who read UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT, the non-fiction book about the Duke Lacrosse case, knows that it was the dedicated team of effective criminal defense attorneys that uncovered Mike Nifong's bag of dirty tricks. If these young men hadn't had such a strong group of lawyers defending them, there might well have been three more wrongful convictions added to the statistics list. And Mike Nifong would still be the District Attorney in Durham, NC.

So what else needs to be done to prevent more wrongful convictions before they happen? We need ALL the good ideas for change we can get on this issue, so let's starting listing them. Zambeste

J

_________________
"We must remember, always, that accusation is not proof, and conviction depends on evidence and due process of law."
EDWARD R. MURROW, 1954

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

It seems to me that one of the best ways to prevent more wrongful convictions is to set up some kind of network that would list the names, addresses and phone numbers of all criminal defense professionals. We could call it the Criminal Defense Professionals Network (CDPN for short lol).

Not only would defense attorneys be listed, but the network would also include private investigators and all kinds of experts that would be willing to testify for criminal defendants at trials. One of the biggest problems for indigent and lower-income defendants is that they don't have the money to hire the top experts to testify on their behalf. Maybe some more experts would be willing to take a lesser fee to do this? Of course, that is up to them, but it would certainly help.

Right now, we have a situation where people don't have a clue where to find an attorney he/she KNOWS will defend them to the best of their ability. How can anyone tell how effective a defense attorney is simply by looking at a Yellow Pages ad? I couldn't, and I doubt anyone else can either. The same goes for a private investigator or expert witness.

So what do you all think about the possibilities of such a network? Obviously, it would take a lot of time and effort to set up such a venture, but it would be better than what we have now, which is NOTHING at all. Any and all ideas are needed! Zambeste cu gura deschisa

J

_________________
"We must remember, always, that accusation is not proof, and conviction depends on evidence and due process of law."
EDWARD R. MURROW, 1954

SaberGal · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Oregon

First and foremost, I owe an apology to you, Justice1st. I promised to respond to your post on this a couple weeks ago and was not able to do so until now.

I think your suggestion of a database is an excellent idea. I think it would be very important to include information and statistics on the cases they have argued, their successes and failures.

One of the things that bugs me most about defense attorneys is their eagerness to plea their clients. Often enough, they say the right things to get hired and then try to plea out regardless of their clients innocence or varying degrees of guilt. I'm not sure what their motivation is...be it political, crony-ism, greed, or pure old fashioned laziness, but all too often, instead of rolling up their sleeves and putting up a good fight for their client, they encourage them to plea with scare tactics.

Putting together a complete database with the history of their cases and maybe even remarks from their previous clients might make them take their clients and cases a bit more seriously. This goes for experts and investigators as well.

I do agree that it would take an enormous amount of time and effort to set something like this up - and I'm not sure we'd see benefits immediately. But something needs to be done.
_________________
"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
- E. Burke
__________________________________________
That's OK. I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway. (Insert rolly eye emoticon here)

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

SaberGal · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Oregon

Thanks....it is GREAT to be back home!

I think incorporating this into WSY falls directly in line with some of the plans we have regarding its future. WSY was started with the idea that it will develop into something larger than a discussion forum.

I can't say enough good things about Allen Bloom, Gerry Spence, Barry Scheck....lots of good ones out there. Bill Pavelic, of course, is one of my favorites in the field of legal defense but don't let him catch you calling him a private investigator! I learned that from watching his testimony in the Spector trial - he's an "Investigative Consultant" !!

Yes, we most certainly will be incorporating this concept and much more into the future of WSY - timing is everything.
_________________
"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
- E. Burke
__________________________________________
That's OK. I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway. (Insert rolly eye emoticon here)

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

SaberGal · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Oregon

LOL! I don't think Mr. Pavelic bites....it's an easy assumption to make given his field of work. I just remember watching him on the stand in the Spector trial last year - they tried to get him to say that he is a private investigator and he made it quite clear exactly what he does and why he never sought a PI license.

You are right - we need more attorneys like the ones we discussed. They are out there - we just need to find them and advertise them.
_________________
"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
- E. Burke
__________________________________________
That's OK. I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway. (Insert rolly eye emoticon here)

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

SaberGal · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Oregon

Absolutely....and to protect the integrity of the process, listings would be at no charge.
_________________
"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
- E. Burke
__________________________________________
That's OK. I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway. (Insert rolly eye emoticon here)

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA