Although the criminal justice system is specifically set up to avoid them, we do know that false convictions happen. People have to pay fines or even spend time behind bars for crimes that they did not commit. Many of these people have maintained their innocence the entire time, but they went to trial and were convicted anyway.
The top reason why this happens is eyewitness misidentification. In court, the eyewitness claims that the person was spotted at the scene of the crime when it was actually someone else. These eyewitness mistakes are very problematic because they can heavily sway a judge or a jury, which assumes that the defendant has a reason to lie about their involvement, but that the eyewitness is telling the truth.
Why do these mistakes happen?
We know that these mistakes occur because of DNA evidence. It has been used to exonerate people who were wrongfully convicted, and most of those cases involved eyewitness misidentification.
Exactly why the eyewitness makes the mistake depends on the case. In some instances, eyewitnesses may be biased or even intentionally lying to the court, although this is rare. More often, they’ve made a simple error, perhaps because they didn’t have a good vantage point when viewing the criminal activity or because they were so focused on other factors—like a weapon that the person was holding—that they didn’t actually get a good look at their face.
On top of that, people’s memories can simply change over time. An eyewitness may think that their memory is accurate when it has actually been altered, so they pick the wrong person out of a lineup.
Legal defense options
Wrongful convictions are just one of the reasons why those who are facing serious criminal charges must be aware of all of their defense options and the steps they can take to protect their rights.