Day two sessions began a bit later in the morning to allow all who enjoyed the dinner and reception the previous night to sleep in. As with the first day sessions, there were so many interesting and valuable sessions taking place it was difficult to choose which to attend. On day two, there were two concurrent sessions held, the morning session had seven different meeting options and the afternoon hosted eight separate gatherings.

Incentives Baked Into the Criminal Justice System & Wrongful Conviction

In this first session, the audience met Mr. Pedro Hernandez. A young man, who at that time, had been arrested 7 times under false pretenses. For one of these arrests, he spent two years awaiting trial for charges that were ultimately dismissed because he was innocent. The speakers wanted to shed light on the issue of arrest quotas and how these have resulted in the false imprisonment of large numbers of people who cannot afford to post cash bail and therefore are required to wait for trial in prison. Basically, they are jailed for being poor.

Ticket quota systems have many severe negative consequences. They are a result of cities, counties, and crime labs being funded through the fines and penalties generated in this system. In addition, raises and promotions are tied to arrest and conviction rates. All of this creates a perverse incentive to lock up as many people as possible. Mr. Shaun King, one of the panel members, spoke about the outrageous court finding that New York City had dismissed charges in 900,000 arrests and summonses due to no evidence to back the charges. Some of the fallout of these practices, which are still happening, can be learned about in the documentary Crime and Punishment streaming on Hulu.

Mr. Hernandez’ story reminded me so much of Kalif Browder who also spent two years in Rikers awaiting trial for a crime he did not commit. I highly encourage you to view the documentary on Netflix that tells his story: Time, The Kalif Browder Story. We need to see the toll these systems are taking on our citizens and understand there are communities living through treatment that would never be tolderated in more affluent neighborhoods.

Another topic discussed was wrongful conviction resulting from confidential and/or jailhouse informants. In a system where you are being charged with an offense you did not commit, you are more likely to want to cooperate to lessen your time behind bars or even have charges dropped so you can get back home. Also, intimidating interrogation techniques can lead to false confessions. How do we know this? Of 365 people freed from prison after DNA showed they did not commit the crime, 30 percent had provided false confessions or plead guilty in a plea deal. Many of us may think that’s crazy; however, if the system is stacked against you and you know the prosecutor will lie if you go to trial, you may or may not be able to convince a jury of your innocence and risk life behind bars, 10 years, even 20 years knowing you will one day be released may seem like a better deal.

This panel was dicussing just one city – New York – and I’m sure we would like to believe it is unique, but that is likely wishful thinking. The question becomes, how can we change these systems? The truth is, the problem is complex with many singular issues and processes differing from city to city and county to county. Accountability and change will take organization on a local level in order to fight police unions and long established government norms. Due to the complexities, plans for change have to be sophisticated and nuanced to the specific processes and practices in a particular location. To get at the heart of all that is wrong, detailed step by step programs are needed.

For example, do you know how much money is being made off of people who are held pending trial when they are not able to make cash bail? There are charges for email ($1.50), phone calls, tablet rental (15$ a month), commissary, etc. There is money being made when people are detained, even when they did not commit the crime for which they are charged.

Do you know how much your city, county, or state has paid in settlements for wrongful incarceration or conviction or excessive use of force? Are you aware that it is thought to be so difficult to fire police that the government is willing to pay settlements for poor performers over and over again rather than get rid of the “bad apple”?

Are you aware of how many people are incarcerated in your city, county, state? Did you know that of all major U.S. cities Houston has 1/3 of the prison population? The truth about this subject is most of us are completely oblivious about this segment of our society. Most of us are happy to believe that if someone is in prison, they must have done something wrong and deserve to be there. Most of us have faith in the system and believe justice is the focus of the people we have placed in positions of authority over us. However, it’s time to wake up and take stock of how the most vulnerable among us are often the most oppressed by the criminal justice system currently in place. Are we willing to do what we can to make the needed changes?

Moth Storytelling Performance

Just prior to lunch, the Moth Storytelling Performance took place. This outreach program provides an outlet to exonerees to share a story about themselves after being given a topic. The topic for this performance was “What Gives Me Joy”. There were five performers who shared very special, five minute stories personal to their lives about joy. Each one was touching and came from exactly where that particular person was on their healing journey. In my mind, after having spent years in prison for a crime you did not commit and then released and expected to fend for yourself (there are not any resources for exonerees when they are released), it would be difficult to speak about joy. But one thing I find especially unique about this group of people is the abundant hope and internal positivity they exude. It’s really quite incredible. Listening to these stories was inspiring and fun.

Honoring the Legacy of Samuel R. Gross: Research, Advocacy, and Leadership that Changed the Field

In this session, four of the leading researchers and advocates on wrongful convictions came together to discuss their experiences working with Mr. Gross who recently retired. Mr. Gross has performed numerous studies and research into the topic of wrongful convictions over his 45 year career. He also co-founded the National Registry of Exonerations, which keeps track of all official exonerations in the United States and compiles statistics for contributors to wrongful conviction. I highly encourage you to visit this site as it contains some of the best information, in one place, for understanding the severity of the problem. It should also be understood this database only contains a specific type of exoneree, ones that are formally cleared of all charges. It would not include people like the West Memphis 3, who took an Alfred plea or any type of plea in order to be released.

Rally for Justice and Closing Celebration

After the final session, conference attendees gathered together in the main conference room, we then made our way through the hotel and walked over to Centennial Olympic Park together. We listened to some live music and were encouraged about the way forward by Mr. Shaun King, the keynote speaker. After the message, we made our way over to the College Football Hall of Fame for a closing celebration where we enjoyed hor d’oeuvres and a few drinks while listening to great music. Most noteably, from the Exoneree Band, a band made up of five men who were wrongfully convicted and spent a combined 85 years in prison.

Reflection

This was my first Innocence Conference and I was honored to attend and learn all that I did in two days. For sure, I felt like I was witnessing the best and worst of our society in this space. I felt inspired by these people who demonstrate the power of the human spirit, its ability to survive so much trauma, pain, and uncertainty. These people are amazingly resilant and provide evidence that hope is possible in the most stark and trying of circumstances.

Deciding which sessions to attend at the conference was difficult.  There were two concurrent on the first day; an early session with 9 separate meetings and an afternoon session with 10 choices.  Some meetings were restricted to specific groups, such as exonerees; otherwise, there were many I would have enjoyed attending if I could be in more than one place at a time.  Being so new, not yet a law student, let alone an attorney, I tried to choose presentations that might provide insights into topics I could explore further while attending law school or provide ideas for local level advocacy.

Sunrise Yoga

The conference kicked off Friday morning bright and early with a sunrise yoga session led by Lynn Brandli from the Little Yoga Co-op in Grant Park.  Her teaching method and peaceful demeanor created a warm, inviting atmosphere where a room full of strangers gathered together to begin the day.  It was a packed event, with literally every available space in the room being utilized.

Innocence Scholarship Forum

The first session I attended, after the opening, was a discussion on emerging topics.  Two presenters, Dr. Sara Appleby and Mr. Robert Norris  provided discussions on research they are currently conducting.  Dr. Appleby, an assistant professor at Mercer University, is researching the Effective Assistance of Counsel in False Confession Cases.  There is a lack of research in this area and it is extremely difficult to convince prosecutors to participate.  However, in these cases, it is believed it is the Defense Attorney that is the key between a false confession and conviction.

False confession cases are difficult because the defense attorney knows individual jury members likely do not understand police interrogation techniques or the dynamics of false confessions.  Results are showing that in defending these cases, defense attorneys tend to rely on a strategy that focuses on evidence of innocence and fails to address the false confession.  However, research on jury decisions has indicated juries tend to give confessions greater weight than evidence in reaching a conclusion.

One key finding from research on interrogations is an interrogation should never last more than four hours, any longer and the results of the interrogation become less reliable as the person being interrogated becomes unable to cope and more willing to do whatever it takes to end the interrogation.  The future goal of this study would be to create best practices for representing defendants who have made false confessions.

Mr. Robert Norris, assistant professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society at George Mason University, discussed his research into Documenting Crimes of True Perpetrators in cases of Wrongful Conviction.  He stated a double imperative for this research – justice and public safety.  The goal is to attempt to quantify how wrongful convictions contribute to violent crime through the concept of “wrongful liberty.”  The study looked at the 339,000 violent crimes committed in 2014.  The findings imply wrongful convictions may have resulted in an additional 3,000 to 10,000 violent crimes, with an error margin of 1-3 percent, .  Additionally, in looking at the few cases where more information was available, it was found that when someone is wrongfully convicted, the true perpetrator may go on to commit upwards of 31 additional crimes.

Identifying the true perpetrator for the purposes of study can be difficult.  Difficulties include cases with no DNA evidence, difficulty in obtaining official records (can be financially prohibitive).  Another challenge is the difficulty in quantifying an economic impact related to the types and number of crimes these perpetrators may go on to commit.  Also, the staggering level of “institutional protectionism” creates a lack of incentive for governments to get back in the game to identify and bring the true perpetrator to justice (requires admitting mistakes).

Ms. Vanessa Meterko, Research Analyst at the Innocence Project, wrapped up this session with a discussion of topics being considered for further research.  Ideas included the lack of social security benefits for exonerees as they were not members of the workforce while wrongfully incarcerated, holding wrongdoers in the criminal justice system accountable (disbarment?), working to identify true perpetrators and not just focusing on exonerating wrongfully convicted, and determining if there should be greater focus on the identification process.  She directed us to innocenceresearch.org for staying current on results of current research, past research, and additional information related to this area of study.

“When someone buries you, they don’t realize you are actually a seed.”  

Central Park 5 Panel Discussion

One of the highlights of this year’s conference was the panel discussion with the recently exonerated Central Park Five.  This was prior to the Netflix drama, “When They See Us,” being released.  I had not followed this case and only recently heard some of the media reports surrounding the injustice of the manner in which these boys (at the time, their ages ranged from 14-16) were pushed into false confessions and used to convict each other of crimes they did not commit.

Of the five, only two knew each other at the time of their arrests, yet they were supposed to have committed a brutal rape as a group; none of them being the actual rapist, just some kind of assistants to that person, who the police never identified.  Some of the men expressed the difficulty in finding words to describe what it’s like to realize some people are unable to accept or believe that a person could be wrongfully convicted of a crime.  Another difficulty is, even after exoneration, there are still many people in the community who believe they must have had something to do with the crime.

Presenting Innocence Issues to Youth

The last session I attended, on the first day of the conference, was a discussion of the outreach the Georgia Innocence Project (GIP) conducted with area high schools on the most recent Wrongful Conviction Day (October 2).  In September 2018, the GIP decided they would put together a presentation for Wrongful Conviction Day and reach out to area schools to solicit interest.  The interest was enormous which required GIP to quickly create a program, gather volunteers and exonerees willing to present, conduct training, and logistically handle the assignment of those involved to the various schools wanting to participate.  Although the effort took all they had, the outreach was extremely successful and will continue in the future.  Through this experience, GIP created templates for outreach efforts and tools that can be used to educate students about their rights, Miranda warnings, and interrogation rules.

GIP used a straightforward process of looking at the background of the information they felt most appropriate to present, then finding schools and volunteers, creating materials, and finally measuring the outcomes of the presentations.  They found in talking with high schoolers about this subject, it was best to approach students openly, honestly and by treating them as young adults.

They also worked with some schools to integrate this presentation into a lesson by having the students complete a vocabulary assignment, research articles, and watch a video on you-tube then complete an essay prior to the presentations.  This information fits well into history, social studies, science, and civics courses.

Other projects also work with local schools.  The Northern California Innocence Project goes through a current case to provide real examples of contributors to wrongful convictions so the students can see actual materials.  The GIP provided the students with handouts on the issues being discussed and had exonerees talk about their real life experiences.  Other ideas are to watch a short video and discuss the issues or work through some exercises showing how easy it is to make mistakes in identification and recall.

Reception and Dinner

Friday ended with a reception and dinner at the Georgia Aquarium Oceans Ballroom.  The venue was beautiful, we were seated in the middle of a large room surrounded by aquariums with awesome sea life swimming around us.  While enjoying a delicious dinner, the names of all those exonerated since the last conference were called out.  The Innocence Network allows new exonerees to attend the first conference after exoneration for free.  Each came up to the stage to be recognized.  After this, all the other exonerees in attendance joined them.  I’m sad to say, it was standing room only on the stage, requiring many people to stand on the sides and along the front of the stage.

The moment was awe inspiring as the people standing in front of us had endured what most of us can hardly even begin to imagine.  They made up a new family no one would choose to belong to, but they also made up a group of people who demonstrated what unending hope looks like and what fighting for truth and justice looks like.  It would be easy to say this group, spilling over the stage, was large but it wasn’t even truly representative because they did not suffer this injustice alone.  Each one of these people was a son or daughter, some were brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, moms and dads….you get the idea.  In looking at that stage it struck me, this was the smallest measure of the impact of the time they served because they did not serve it alone.  We must also consider the impact on the original victim and their families.  Not to mention the horror that these hundreds of people stood in for hundreds of true perpetrators who were allowed to remain free and commit additional crime.