WEBVTT - Why Is It So Difficult to Overturn a Guilty Verdict?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here in the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is one of the guiding legal principles of

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<v Speaker 1>the U s criminal justice system. But the flip side

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<v Speaker 1>of the presumption of innocence is that once a person

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<v Speaker 1>is found guilty by a jury, the burden of proof

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<v Speaker 1>to overturn that conviction falls completely on them, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>extremely difficult. It's so difficult that even if an attorney

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<v Speaker 1>discovers overwhelming evidence, that still might not be enough to

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<v Speaker 1>garner the person's release. That means, for a wrongfully convicted person,

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<v Speaker 1>the uphill legal battle towards exoneration might prove impossible. Netflix

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<v Speaker 1>series like Making a Murderer and podcasts like Serial demonstrate

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<v Speaker 1>just how difficult it can be to even get a

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<v Speaker 1>new tra aisle. That's where the work and legal expertise

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<v Speaker 1>of organizations like The Innocence Project becomes so important. These

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<v Speaker 1>organizations are dedicated to providing free legal services to innocent

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<v Speaker 1>people behind bars so that they have a fighting chance

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<v Speaker 1>of gaining their freedom in The Innocence Project was founded

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<v Speaker 1>in New York City to exonerate the wrongfully convicted through

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<v Speaker 1>DNA testing, and the nonprofit organization works to reform the

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<v Speaker 1>criminal justice system. By two four more organizations formed and

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<v Speaker 1>began meeting at an annual conference. The association shifted to

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<v Speaker 1>a loosely affiliated network with fifteen initial members and an

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<v Speaker 1>executive board the following year. Today, the Innocence Network includes

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<v Speaker 1>sixty seven member organizations around the world, fifty five of

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<v Speaker 1>which are located in the United States, mostly housed in

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<v Speaker 1>law schools. The organizations provide pro bono, that is, free

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<v Speaker 1>legal services to people who have been convicted of crimes

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<v Speaker 1>and are seeking to prove their innocence. Additionally, these organizations

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<v Speaker 1>work to redress the causes of wrongful convictions and make

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<v Speaker 1>improvements to the way the criminal justice system functions. You

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<v Speaker 1>might think that if new DNA evidence is found even

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<v Speaker 1>after a person is convicted, it's automatically tested to be

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<v Speaker 1>sure the right person is behind bars. But that's not

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<v Speaker 1>the case at all. When someone who's already convicted of

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<v Speaker 1>a crime wants to have new DNA tested, they must

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<v Speaker 1>request permission from the prosecutor. If the prosecutor won't agree,

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<v Speaker 1>the defendant must file a motion to have it tested,

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<v Speaker 1>and in that case, it must fit certain requirements of

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<v Speaker 1>the state statute. That means questions must be answered, like

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<v Speaker 1>would favorable DNA results create a reasonable probability that the

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<v Speaker 1>defendant would not have been convicted at their original trial. However,

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<v Speaker 1>because the defendant is already convicted and in prison, they

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<v Speaker 1>no longer have the right to a court appointed attorney,

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<v Speaker 1>and so any incarcerated person trying to prove their innocence

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<v Speaker 1>must pay for an attorney to file that motion or

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<v Speaker 1>help from an organization like the Innocence Project. If and

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<v Speaker 1>when DNA gets tested, it doesn't always immediately exonerate the innocent,

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<v Speaker 1>even if it's in their favor. Obtaining exoneration is a

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<v Speaker 1>lengthy two step process. First, the original conviction must be

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<v Speaker 1>vacated if DNA or other evidence comes back in favor

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<v Speaker 1>of the defendant, and that means that the judge sets

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<v Speaker 1>aside the original guilty verdict, and then the defendant returns

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<v Speaker 1>to pre trial status, so it's as if they had

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<v Speaker 1>never been tried and the original accusation remains. Before the

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<v Speaker 1>wrongfully accused to be completely exonerated, either the district attorney

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<v Speaker 1>or the court has to dismiss the indictment altogether. Usually

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<v Speaker 1>that's the result when there's new evidence of their innocence.

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<v Speaker 1>But we spoke with Vanessa Potkin, director of post conviction

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<v Speaker 1>litigation at The Innocence Project, and she said in rare occasions,

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<v Speaker 1>clients are brought to another trial and officially vindicated by

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<v Speaker 1>a jury who acquits them. This is what happened in

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<v Speaker 1>the case of an Any Right, who was retried after

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<v Speaker 1>DNA testing in excluded him and implicated someone else rape

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<v Speaker 1>and murder. He was convicted for in a new eleven

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<v Speaker 1>day trial in twenty sixteen, found Right not guilty on

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<v Speaker 1>all charges. The jury deliberated for less than an hour.

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<v Speaker 1>It took three years between Rights DNA results and the

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<v Speaker 1>new trial, which seems like a long time to wait,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's not extensive in these type of cases. An

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<v Speaker 1>average wrongful conviction case takes about seven years, according to Potkin.

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<v Speaker 1>She said it's relatively easy to be wrongfully convicted and

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<v Speaker 1>extraordinarily difficult to be exonerated from a wrongful conviction. Other

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<v Speaker 1>wrongfully convicted people don't have time to wait for a

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<v Speaker 1>new trial. Take the case of Elvis Brooks. Brooks, a

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<v Speaker 1>black man, was sentenced to life in prison in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy seven, when he was just a teenager, for murder

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<v Speaker 1>and for armed robbery of a bar in New Orleans.

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<v Speaker 1>The conviction was based only on the eyewitness testimony of

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<v Speaker 1>three white strangers who had been inside, but there was

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<v Speaker 1>other evidence fingerprints left on two beer cans on the

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<v Speaker 1>bar by the real perpetrators. This evidence was suppressed by

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<v Speaker 1>the prosecutors who convicted him. It was never provided to

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<v Speaker 1>Brooks or his attorneys. When the Innocence Project New Orleans

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<v Speaker 1>learned of the fingerprint evidence, they filed an application for

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<v Speaker 1>post conviction relief in January of twenty nineteen, alleging Brady violations,

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<v Speaker 1>which means the government failed to disclose evidence favorable to

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<v Speaker 1>the accused. The state objected, but the Orleans Parish District

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney's office gave Brooks two choices, plead guilty to the

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<v Speaker 1>lesser offenses of manslaughter and three counts of armed robbery

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<v Speaker 1>and be immediately freed or remain in prison awaiting a

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<v Speaker 1>new trial that could take years. Brooks, who was sixty

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<v Speaker 1>two at the time, chose the plea and was released.

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<v Speaker 1>Many of the exonerated except these deals with the devil

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<v Speaker 1>just to be freed, but in exchange they can never

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<v Speaker 1>receive compensation from the state or five al civil suits

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<v Speaker 1>for wrongful convictions. Some plea deals also protect the prosecutors

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<v Speaker 1>from disciplinary action, and in the eyes of the law,

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<v Speaker 1>Brooks is still guilty of crimes he adamantly denies committing.

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<v Speaker 1>In a statement, one of brooks attorneys at Innocence Project

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<v Speaker 1>New Orleans, Shrell Arnold, said Elvis Brooks was wrongfully convicted

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<v Speaker 1>and it is wonderful that he is being reunited with

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<v Speaker 1>his family after forty two years. Mr Brooks never sought

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<v Speaker 1>a plea agreement. It is deeply unfair that an innocent

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<v Speaker 1>man would be forced to choose between entering a plea

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<v Speaker 1>to secure his immediate freedom and waiting years more in

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<v Speaker 1>prison to prove his innocence through litigation. The situation is

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<v Speaker 1>particularly unfair given that the state has known about the

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<v Speaker 1>new evidence presented in this case since nineteen seventy seven.

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<v Speaker 1>Both Brooks and Wright have told the lawyers that the

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<v Speaker 1>Innocence Projects that worked with them that they are the

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<v Speaker 1>fortunate ones right told the Innocence Project people have been

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<v Speaker 1>so kind and so warm toward me, so gracious towards me.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm grateful to all those bowl Even on the street,

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<v Speaker 1>wherever I go, people hug me or they want to

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<v Speaker 1>shake my hand. It's so humbling to me because I'm

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<v Speaker 1>no different from anybody else. When I tell people that

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<v Speaker 1>I'm the luckiest guy in the world, they look at

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<v Speaker 1>me like, yeah, right, and they laugh. People don't have

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<v Speaker 1>an idea. Man, I am the luckiest man in the world,

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<v Speaker 1>and not just for one reason, but for a whole

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<v Speaker 1>lot of reasons. Unlike Brooks, who can't seek compensation for

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<v Speaker 1>his wrongful incarceration, some exonorees can receive financial reimbursement and

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<v Speaker 1>services to help them adjust to a life of freedom.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether they are entitled to a financial reward and how

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<v Speaker 1>much varies by state. But what none of them can

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<v Speaker 1>ever get back are the years of missing out on

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<v Speaker 1>their lives and those of their family and friends. As

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<v Speaker 1>of January, the Innocence Project has documented more than three

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and sixty five DNA exonerations in the United States alone,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty one we're on death row. Nearly all were wrongfully

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<v Speaker 1>convicted of sexual assault and or murder, and despite being

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<v Speaker 1>innocent of the crimes. Approximately to confessed an eleven percent

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<v Speaker 1>had pleaded guilty. These innocent people spent an average of

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<v Speaker 1>fourteen years in prison. Today's episode was written by Kerry

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<v Speaker 1>Whitney with thanks to Keith Finley, and was produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>legal topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of Our Heart Radio or more podcasts. For my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the our Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows