Police Should Take Lead
In Post-Conviction Investigations
Reprinted from The LaGrange Daily News , Friday , March 5 , 2021 ; Atlanta Journal Constitution March 11 , 2021
College courses in criminal justice teach it , police policies proclaim it , detectives and investigators are instructed in it … “ the fundamental purpose of a criminal investigation is to find the truth .” This cornerstone of all law enforcement investigations reflects a principal that ensures investigators remain faithful to their oath of office and accompanying ethical standards by only arresting and pursuing the prosecution of those that are guilty . However , in the area of post-conviction investigations the “ truth seeking ” role of law enforcement is at best confused and at worse undermines the obligation of truth seeking .
As forensic science evolves , where subsequent findings are exculpatory , vindicating as innocent someone convicted of a crime then the police have an obligation to act . All law enforcement agencies owe a duty to review , investigate , and assess post-conviction exculpatory facts that may exonerate someone that may have been wrongfully convicted . Sadly , those that are wrongfully convicted served an average of 14 years in prison before exoneration and release .
Jim Fisher , Forensics Under Fire , notes that for a significant period of time we have known advances in DNA have uncovered problems in other forensic disciplines . For years experts have over reached regarding the evidentiary value of hair and bite mark evidence . Hundreds if not thousands of criminal defendants have been sent to prison on what many experts now consider unreliable forensic science . Latent prints , considered the Gold Standard of forensic science , has come under attack as a result of a handful of misidentifications .
The citizens we serve rightfully expect that police will review and investigate post-conviction cases where facts become known that
24 SPRING . 2021