https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Page… use this for registry of exonerations
As we are getting later in the quarter, we expect a little more depth and effort on these assignments. No plagiarism no use of AI
The textbook states: ” Of the first 325 DNA exonerations reported by the Innocence Project, only 31 (9.5%) involved a false guilty plea (West & Meterko, 2016). As of this writing, just over 20% of cases (569/2,754) reported by the National Registry of Exonerations resulted from guilty pleas. Of these 569 guilty plea cases, more than half (52%) of the exonerations involved drug-related charges (compared to just 4% in contested cases), while only 9% of the guilty plea exonerations involved murder (compared to 46% in cases that went to trial) (National Registry of Exonerations, n.d.).” Recompute these percentages using the current Registry. (You do not need to recompute the comparison numbers, such as “4%.”) Give the fractions and percentages. Comment on whether and how they have changed. Explain the differences between the statistics for DNA exonerations and all exonerations.
Choose a guilty plea case from the Registry (as usual, be creative in picking a case–don’t just choose the first case on the list). Do you think the defendant is guilty or innocent? Assuming their innocence, why do you think they chose to plead guilty? How did their sentence change because of the guilty plea? The textbook discusses several ways in which pleading guilty makes the path to exoneration more difficult. How was the exoneree’s path to exoneration made more difficult by having pled guilty?
Find a case in which an exoneree made an Alford plea and pled guilty to the crime for which they were later exonerated. How did you find such a case using the Registry? Do you think the defendant was guilty or innocent? Assuming their innocence, why do you think they chose to plead guilty? How did their sentence change because of the guilty plea? The textbook discusses several ways in which pleading guilty makes the path to exoneration more difficult. How was the exoneree’s path to exoneration made more difficult by having pled guilty? Do you think courts should allow Alford pleas?
Now find a case in which an Alford plea played a role in the case, but the exoneree did NOT plead guilty for the crime for which they were later exonerated. How did you find this case in the Registry? How did the Alford plea affect the case? What does this case illustrate about wrongful convictions, exonerations, and/or the desirability of the courts allowing Alford pleas?
The textbook, in the text box titled “Wrongful Conviction and Popular Culture,” discusses the case of the “West Memphis Three.” Look up some information about the case. Why does the textbook say they “have not been exonerated as of this writing”? Have they been exonerated yet? Why are they not included in the National Registry of Exonerations? Do you think they are guilty or innocent? Why do you think they chose to take Alford pleas? Do you think that it is fair that they are not included in the Registry? Why do you think the Registry does not include people like the “West Memphis Three”? How does not being “exonerated” affect them? What does this case illustrate about wrongful convictions, exonerations, and/or the desirability of the courts allowing Alford pleas?
An article from The Guardian newspaper claims that in 2015 the defendant pled guilty in 44% of miscarriages of justice. Is this number accurate? Give the fraction and the percentage. (Note: In this question, unlike in question (1), we ARE asking you to compare single-year numbers, rather than the whole history of the Registry in a particular year!) Compare 2015 to a couple of other years. What is the percentage for those years? Is “44%” representative of the rate of guilty pleas in miscarriages of justice/exonerations in general, or does 2015 seem to be a “cherry-picked” year with an especially high number of guilty pleas? If it is cherry-picked, why were there a lot guilty pleas that year? What might explain the difference between 2015 and other years?