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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Prosecutor As A Final Safeguard Against False Convictions, Elizabeth H. Webster
The Prosecutor As A Final Safeguard Against False Convictions, Elizabeth H. Webster
Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works
Prosecutors have helped secure an unprecedented number of recent exonerations. This development, combined with the rapid emergence of district attorney-initiated conviction integrity units (CIUs) raises several questions. How do prosecutors’ offices review postconviction innocence claims? How do they make decisions about the merits of those claims? How do CIU processes differ from non-CIU processes? This study examines the circumstances surrounding prosecutor-assisted exoneration cases through semi-structured interviews with 20 prosecutors and 19 defense attorneys. It draws from a sample of both CIU and non-CIU prosecutors, thereby enabling comparisons. Respondents were asked about their experiences and decision-making structures in specific, post-2005 exoneration …
Postconviction Innocence Review In The Age Of Progressive Prosecution, Elizabeth H. Webster
Postconviction Innocence Review In The Age Of Progressive Prosecution, Elizabeth H. Webster
Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works
The Article examines how prosecutors adopt legal standards, how they evaluate both forensic and non-forensic new evidence of innocence, and how and when they acknowledge innocence—all in the context of the highly discretionary postconviction arena.