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A Safety Doctrine To The Criminal Justice System, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
A Safety Doctrine To The Criminal Justice System, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Prof. Boaz Sangero
Criminal law, unlike other risk-creating fields, currently lacks any modern safety doctrine. In light of the proven phenomenon of wrongful convictions and the severe harm it causes to both those wrongly convicted and society, this Essay focuses on the necessary preliminary stages in developing a safety doctrine for the criminal justice system. Under our conception, criminal law is a "safety-critical system": it deals with matters of life and death. We view false conviction to be a type of accident, similarly to a crash of a fighter airplane. This comparison is not only metaphorical, but quite literal when the damage is …
Proposal To Reverse The View Of A Confession: From Key Evidence Requiring Corroboration To Corroboration For Key Evidence, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Proposal To Reverse The View Of A Confession: From Key Evidence Requiring Corroboration To Corroboration For Key Evidence, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Prof. Boaz Sangero
Both case law and legal literature have recognized that all, and not just clearly statistical, evidence is probabilistic. Therefore, we have much to learn from the laws of probability with regard to the evaluation of evidence in a criminal trial. The present article focuses on the confession. First, we review legal and psychological literature and show that the probability of a false confession and, consequently, a wrongful conviction is far from insignificant. In light of this, we warn against the cognitive illusion, stemming from the fallacy of the transposed conditional, which is liable to mislead the trier of fact in …
Proposal To Reverse The View Of A Confession: From Key Evidence Requiring Corroboration To Corroboration For Key Evidence, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Proposal To Reverse The View Of A Confession: From Key Evidence Requiring Corroboration To Corroboration For Key Evidence, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Prof. Boaz Sangero
Both case law and legal literature have recognized that all, and not just clearly statistical, evidence is probabilistic. Therefore, we have much to learn from the laws of probability with regard to the evaluation of evidence in a criminal trial. The present article focuses on the confession. First, we review legal and psychological literature and show that the probability of a false confession and, consequently, a wrongful conviction is far from insignificant. In light of this, we warn against the cognitive illusion, stemming from the fallacy of the transposed conditional, which is liable to mislead the trier of fact in …
From A Plane Crash To The Conviction Of An Innocent Person: A Call On Lawmakers To Establish That Forensic Evidence Is Inadmissible Unless Forensic Equipment Is Developed As A Safety-Critical System, Dr. Boaz Sangero, Dr. Mordechai Halpert
From A Plane Crash To The Conviction Of An Innocent Person: A Call On Lawmakers To Establish That Forensic Evidence Is Inadmissible Unless Forensic Equipment Is Developed As A Safety-Critical System, Dr. Boaz Sangero, Dr. Mordechai Halpert
Prof. Boaz Sangero
According to existing law, a criminal conviction may be based on a single piece of scientific (forensic) evidence. Thus, for example, a DNA match could, on its own, lead to a conviction and a prolonged term of imprisonment, or even a death sentence. A testing error might result in the conviction of an innocent person. Therefore, the state has a duty to ensure that such evidence is as reliable as possible. This article protests an inconceivable situation: that the development of forensic equipment, which is designed to produce evidence that can be relied on in a criminal trial, is not …
Miranda Is Not Enough: A New Justification For Demanding "Strong Corroboration" To A Confession, Boaz Sangero
Miranda Is Not Enough: A New Justification For Demanding "Strong Corroboration" To A Confession, Boaz Sangero
Prof. Boaz Sangero
Following research conducted in recent years—some of it regarding evidence obtained through DNA testing—no doubt remains that, in reality, innocent persons are convicted of crimes and that, in a significant number of these cases, wrongful convictions are solely based on the out-of-court confessions of accused persons obtained by police interrogators.This Article discusses existing law regarding confessions and convictions based on confessions. While this body of law deals in a relatively satisfactory manner with the fear that the confession is involuntary (primarily, through Miranda rules), unfortunately, it does not adequately address the serious fear of false confessions.The Article is designed to …
Why A Conviction Should Not Be Based On A Single Piece Of Evidence: A Proposal For Reform, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Why A Conviction Should Not Be Based On A Single Piece Of Evidence: A Proposal For Reform, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Prof. Boaz Sangero
This article illustrates a serious flaw in the conventional legal approach enabling a conviction based solely on one piece of evidence. This flaw derives from a cognitive illusion referred to as “the fallacy of the transposed conditional.” People might assume a low error rate in evidence only leads to a small percentage of wrongful convictions. We show that, counterintuitively, even a very low error rate might lead to a wrongful conviction in most cases where the conviction is based on a single piece of evidence. Case law has indicated some awareness of this fallacy, primarily when considering the random match …