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The impact of Human Factors on Wrongful Convictions
Video Topics
Mark Godsey, co-founder and director of the Ohio Innocence Project.
Justice is our goal as Americans, but it is not always our reality, particularly in the criminal justice system.
Those of us who work in the innocent movement devote our careers to helping people who have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. One of the most common questions we hear when people learn about wrongful convictions is “How can this happen?” The answer to that question is both simple and complex: wrongful convictions occur because we are human.
In some wrongful conviction cases, a person acts with hatred, bias, or fear to help ensure that an innocent person is convicted. But much more frequently, wrongful convictions occur when well-intentioned, honest, intelligent people make mistakes.
As humans, we make mistakes each day. Our memories may fail, our perceptions may be faulty. We may be distracted or confused, or misled by suggestions of others. Usually, our mistakes cause us little more than embarrassment and inconvenience.
But sometimes we make mistakes when we serve as jurors or witnesses, as experts or investigators, or as judges, prosecutors, or defense attorneys. Those mistakes can have grave consequences.
We cannot stop being human, but we can learn from our mistakes. Learn more.
Black Robes, Black Lives: The Duty of the Courts to Understand and Address Systemic Racism
The OIP's East Cleveland 3: Wrongful Convictions and Exonerations
In 1995, three teenagers in East Cleveland, Ohio, 16 year old Laurese Glover, 17 year old Derrick Wheatt, and 17 year old Eugene Johnson were arrested and charged with murder based in part on the testimony of a 14 year old girl who observed the murder. Laurese, Derrick, and Eugene spent the next 20 years of their lives in prison for a crime they did not commit. They became known as the East Cleveland Three.
OIP is proud to have played a part in securing the exonerations of Derrick, Eugene and Laurese. In their freedom, these three men have devoted themselves to educating the public about the horror of wrongful convictions. With generous funding from the Dayton Legal Heritage Foundation and Ohio State Bar Foundation, OIP is happy to provide lesson plans for teachers and educators about the East Cleveland Three. These lesson plans align with Ohio’s curriculum standards and are available free of charge. To access the lesson plans or get more information about how OIP can assist with education in your classroom, please contact OIP’s director of policy and engagement, Pierce Reed, at pierce.reed@uc.edu.
Ohio Summit on Wrongful Convictions
Sessions
- Session 1: Welcomes by Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney Michael O’Malley and Dean Robert Scharf, Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Special Guest Mr. Rickey Jackson (Exonerated Person)
- Session 2: Opening Remarks by former Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, Supreme Court of Ohio (Introduction by Dean Verna Williams, University of Cincinnati College of Law)
- Session 3: Why Does it Happen? The Causes of Wrongful Conviction. Panel Moderator: Mark Godsey, Director of OIP; Panelists: Rebecca Brown, former Director of Policy, Innocence Project, NYC; Chief William Brooks of the Norwood (MA) Police Dept., Carmen Naso, former Sr. Instructor in Law, Case Western Reserve University College of Law, and Russell Tye, former Director, Conviction Integrity Unit, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
- Session 4: Prosecutors' Perspectives Prosecutors Discussion about Wrongful Convictions. Panel moderator: Russell Tye, former Director, Conviction Integrity Unit, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office; Panelists: David Angel, Asst. Dist. Attorney, Santa Clara (CA) District Attorney’s Office, Dawn Boswell, Director, Conviction Integrity Unit, Tarrant County (TX) District Attorney’s Office, Cynthia Garza, Special Fields Bureau Chief, Dallas County (TX) District Attorney’s Office; Mark Hale, Unit Chief, Conviction Review Unit, Kings County (NY)
- Session 5: Starting Points Innovative Approaches to Wrongful Convictions. Panel Moderator: Mark Godsey; Panelists: Lindsay Guice Smith, Executive Director, North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, former State’s Attorney Michael G. Nerheim, Lake County, IL; Beth Tanner, Assistant Director, North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission
- Session 6: Ethical and Professionalism Aspects of Wrongful Convictions Joseph Caliguiri, former Chief Assistant Disciplinary Counsel, Office of Disciplinary Counsel (OH)
- Session 7: After Exoneration Ru-El Sailor
- Session 8: Why Choose To Go To The Moon? Patricia Cummings, former Chief, Conviction Review Unit, Philadelphia (PA) District Attorney’s Office