Comments on: Payback, but are we learning anything from this? http://defensology.com/2005/11/05/payback-but-is-it-enough/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:52:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on Payback, but are we learning anything from this? by: » Blog Archive » Boston coughs up $3.2M after DNA Exoneration http://defensology.com/2005/11/05/payback-but-is-it-enough/#comment-55 Sat, 11 Mar 2006 17:34:12 +0000 http://defensology.com/2005/11/05/payback-but-is-it-enough/#comment-55 [...] As these wrongful prosecution stories become more and more common (see, e.g., this story), all of these costs will continue to mount and it will be clear that they far outweigh the costs of employing better procedures and available technologies. The lessons are there to be learned if authorities will just listen. I would have thought it enough that an innocent man was jailed, or that additional innocent victims were left helpless against the real criminals allowed to go free. But now the hurt is gonna hit our pocketbooks too. Maybe that will wake up a few folks. [...] […] As these wrongful prosecution stories become more and more common (see, e.g., this story), all of these costs will continue to mount and it will be clear that they far outweigh the costs of employing better procedures and available technologies. The lessons are there to be learned if authorities will just listen. I would have thought it enough that an innocent man was jailed, or that additional innocent victims were left helpless against the real criminals allowed to go free. But now the hurt is gonna hit our pocketbooks too. Maybe that will wake up a few folks. […]

]]> Comment on Payback, but are we learning anything from this? by: B. J. http://defensology.com/2005/11/05/payback-but-is-it-enough/#comment-53 Wed, 08 Mar 2006 16:07:36 +0000 http://defensology.com/2005/11/05/payback-but-is-it-enough/#comment-53 How many other confessions have resulted from the detective's work (James Cassidy) - adult or juvenile? Now that he is retired, what was the sum total number of confessions he obtained? And of these, how many have been questioned or validated? I suspect that many other confessions generated by the work of Detective Cassidy must be reassessed; many other innocents are likely still in prison due to his unethical performance; or did he cross the line only once or twice? Underage persons are only one group of persons who might be easily exploited and from whom "false confessions" may be obtained. How about the homeless, the indigent, or substance abusers, among others? A review of confessions obtained in the light of the social position of the confessees could be studied from this point of view. I suppose the media is unwilling to challenge the detective's procedures in general. How would the Chicago Police Department survive the possible discovery of the fraudulence of a detective's entire career? Would this detective be the the first or only one whose career would wilt under scrutiny or could the CPD hold up all other confessions obtained by this detective to the light of day as highly ethical and effective - a model for all other detectives to aspire to? Accountability? To Whom? Some innocents in prison probably wonder about this every day. How many other confessions have resulted from the detective’s work (James Cassidy) - adult or juvenile? Now that he is retired, what was the sum total number of confessions he obtained? And of these, how many have been questioned or validated?

I suspect that many other confessions generated by the work of Detective Cassidy must be reassessed; many other innocents are likely still in prison due to his unethical performance; or did he cross the line only once or twice?

Underage persons are only one group of persons who might be easily exploited and from whom “false confessions” may be obtained. How about the homeless, the indigent, or substance abusers, among others? A review of confessions obtained in the light of the social position of the confessees could be studied from this point of view.

I suppose the media is unwilling to challenge the detective’s procedures in general. How would the Chicago Police Department survive the possible discovery of the fraudulence of a detective’s entire career? Would this detective be the the first or only one whose career would wilt under scrutiny or could the CPD hold up all other confessions obtained by this detective to the light of day as highly ethical and effective - a model for all other detectives to aspire to? Accountability? To Whom?

Some innocents in prison probably wonder about this every day.

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