HCBA Lawyer Magazine Vol. 29, No. 2 | Page 12

F R O M
T H E
S T A T E
A T T O R N E Y
An d re w H. Wa r re n - St at e At t o r n ey fo r t h e T h i r t e e n t h Ju d i c i a l Ci rc u i t
seeking Justice through
Conviction review
E
Wrongful convictions are contrary to the
very fiber of our criminal justice system.
xperienced prosecutors sometimes sit in
a room with convicted criminals who will
end up on death row for having committed
a heinous murder. What if the conviction
was wrong?
Last October, I attended a conference where I faced
this stark reality. I heard directly from innocent
individuals whose wrongful convictions landed them on
death row. Prosecutors convicted the wrong person. As
a prosecutor who believes so deeply in our system,
I found it gut wrenching. Even though our office had
nothing to do with any of the exonerees’ cases, it was
hard not to feel partially responsible.
This past April, we brought three death row exonerees
to Tampa through an organization called Witness to
Innocence (WTI) to share their stories with members of
my office and local law enforcement. We are proud to
have been the first prosecutor’s office in the nation to
partner with WTI on this important issue. My team saw
10
© Can Stock Photo / 4774344sean
and heard firsthand the casualties of the criminal justice
system’s unimaginable mistakes. Mis takes do happen.
Despite our Constitutional and procedural safeguards,
Continued on page 11
NOV - DEC 2018
|
HCBA LAWYER