PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Charles Smith Blog has become interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination – and because of the growing body of scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects (especially juveniles) are to widely used interrogation methods such as the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’ Similarly, this Blog has begun to pay attention to the disturbing amount of wrongful convictions caused by false identifications (as in this case) - as a growing body of scientific research has shown how vulnerable the identification process used by many police forces in North America and elsewhere is vulnerable to error and resulting wrongful prosecutions and convictions.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
-----------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "Brooklyn, NY man exonerated after serving 30 years for rape he didn't commit," by Anne Branigin, published by the Root on December 21, 2017.
GIST: Thirty years ago, three men
broke into a Brooklyn, N.Y., Burger King, robbing the store and
gang-raping an 18-year-old worker who had been closing up the eatery. But
the brutal attack—and the subsequent police investigation—landed four
men behind bars. The fourth was a then 17-year-old named Mark Denny,
whom the 18-year-old identified in a police lineup. Despite the three
rapists saying that Denny wasn’t there, and with no evidence linking him
to the crime scene, her testimony was enough to put Denny behind bars. Now, the New York Post reports,
after Denny has spent 30 years behind bars, acting Brooklyn District
Attorney Eric Gonzalez has confirmed what Denny maintained all along: He
was innocent. On Wednesday, Gonzalez moved to exonerate Denny,
who was flanked by his family in New York Supreme Court in Brooklyn
after his conviction was dismissed. Arrested before becoming a legal
adult, Denny emerges from prison a middle-aged man. Through the years,
his family stood strong beside him, believing in his innocence and
fighting for his freedom. “Prison was an ugly experience for me. I
almost lost myself. Now I’m a free man,” Denny told reporters in court.
“This type of justice is needed; I appreciate everything that everyone
has done.” According to CBS New York,
Denny maintained his innocence even when a guilty plea would have
yielded him a lighter sentence. He was eventually aided by the Innocence
Project, which works to free the wrongfully convicted.........As
the New York Post reports, the rape victim told police there may have
been a fourth attacker—but didn’t initially identify Denny when shown
his photograph. But the teenager, whose eyes were reportedly covered for
some of the attack, picked Denny out of a lineup days later. The Innocence Project New Orleans
notes that eyewitness testimony, despite being “one of the most common
pieces of evidence” presented in court, has been shown to be unreliable.
Trauma can distort memory, and studies have shown that most people fail
at remembering or recalling events as they actually happened. For these
reasons, eyewitness misidentification is reportedly the “leading
evidentiary cause” of wrongful convictions, according to the group."
The entire story can be found at:
The entire story can be found at:
