Six of the 39 people exonerated from Texas’ death row
he thirty-nine DNA cases analyzed in this report clearly indicate that eyewitness misidentification is by far the leading factor in wrongful convictions in Texas. The majority of these misidentifications occurred in either photo or live lineups. Other factors include: false forensic testimony, reliance on unreliable or limited forensic methodologies (such as microscopic hair comparison or serology inclusion), testimony from informants or accomplices with incentives to lie, false confessions and guilty pleas, suppression of exculpatory evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, and investigative and prosecutorial tunnel vision. The last two factors, while undoubtedly at work, are difficult to pinpoint or quantify. As such, we have not attempted to measure specific instances of those problems in the remainder of the report, but briefly address them here.
There is no question that the most fundamental and important protection against wrongful conviction is access to a qualified defense attorney. With appropriate investigative and expert resources, defenders can meaningfully test the evidence against their clients and argue an effective line of defense. In practice, defenders frequently go without these much-needed resources and may often lack training, skills, and support—all factors that put innocent defendants at risk.
Eyewitness misidentification is by far the leading factor in wrongful convictions in Texas.
Tunnel vision refers to a normal psychological tendency to seek information that fits a theory or belief and causes one to discount or ignore information that does not fit within that theory or belief. While investigators and prosecutors must eventually commit to a theory of who is responsible for a crime, too often this commitment to a theory is premature in the investigative process, and important leads or information are either rejected or simply ignored.
