The VBA Journal is the official publication of The Virginia Bar Association.
Issue link: http://vba.epubxp.com/i/80228
conducted and how cases are prosecuted. More care now is taken to prevent wrongful convictions in the first place. "A lot of the corrective attention belongs at the front end," Tate said, "with open discovery prior to trial, better education of jurors about the frailty of eyewitness identification, better funded indigent defense, the strengthening of forensic analysis and education of law enforcement." DNA-based exonerations are prompting a nationwide re- examination of whether the standard for relief for wrongful convictions should be modified to allow greater flexibility while still honoring the importance of finality. Parties on both the prosecution and defense sides of the criminal justice system agree that efforts to prevent and correct errors made by the system can only benefit society. "Some people say you never bring closure to the victim because the defense gets to challenge cases in perpetuity. Tat's not true," Herring said. "Judges have to make findings. Prosecutors have to agree to retesting of material. Tere is gate- keeping. Allowing defendants a legal path to proving their actual innocence after the fact is a good thing." Molly McClennen is a freelance writer living in Oak Park, Ill. 6MGLQSRH 'SQQSR[IEPXL´W %XXSVRI] 1MGLEIP ,IVVMRK WYTTSVXIH XLI IJJSVXW SJ 8LSQEW ,E]RIW[SVXL XS SFXEMR E [VMX SJ EGXYEP MRRSGIRGI ,IVVMRK WEMH MX MW MQTSVXERX XS IWXEFPMWL E PIKEP TEXL JSV HIJIRHERXW XS TVSZI XLIMV EGXYEP MRRSGIRGI Photo by Dan Iott *EV PIJX 8LSQEW ,E]RIW[SVXL PIJX [EW VIGIRXP] I\SRIVEXIH EJXIV MQTEWWMSRIH WYTTSVX JVSQ %XXSVRI] +IRIVEP /IR 'YGGMRIPPM VMKLX HYVMRK XLI SJ LMW GEWI Photo by Clement Britt ]IEVW MR TVMWSR ,I VIGIMZIH VI I\EQMREXMSR 4VSJIWWSV &VERHSR; +EVVIXX´W FSSO Convicting the Innocent I\EQMRIW ¾E[W MR XLI GVMQMREP NYWXMGI W]WXIQW XLEX LEZI PIH XS [VSRKJYP GSRZMGXMSRW Photo by Ian Bradshaw, book image courtesy of Harvard University Press %FSZI PIJX -RWXMXYXI JSV %GXYEP -RRSGIRGI (MVIGXSV 1EV] /IPP] 8EXI WEMH XLI WXERHEVH SJ VIPMIJ JSV [VSRKJYP GSRZMGXMSRW QYWX FI WXVYGXYVIH WS XLEX [LIR QMWXEOIW EVI QEHI XLSWI QMWXEOIW GER FI JYPP] GSVVIGXIH Photo by Dan Iott FALL 2012 t 31