Digital Commons Network^™

Innocent Until Presumed Guilty: Verdicts, Habeas Corpus Law, And Newly Discovered Evidence, Richard A. Burton Jr

Richard A Burton Jr

It may seem uncontroversial that our law should prevent the execution of an innocent person. There are ‘constitutional safeguards’ in place that maintain this principle, but these safeguards apply to pre-convicted persons – those presumed innocent – through the avoidance of wrongful conviction. Once the conviction is handed down, the safeguards fundamentally change. This is equally true for the most troubling cases in which newly discovered evidence demonstrably proves the factual innocence of a defendant but is discovered post-conviction. Despite the available evidence, such persons do not enjoy constitutional safeguards that prohibit their execution based on their factual innocence. In …