The roundtable discussion Tuesday at Ventura College of Law about
why people are wrongfully convicted and what can be done about it was
interesting.
The panel consisted of Justin Brooks, director of the California
Innocence Project in San Diego and a law professor at the California Western
School of Law; Michael Schwartz, a Ventura County special assistant district
attorney; Mike Bowers, a Ventura dentist, Innocence Project member and bite
mark expert; and Supriya Bhat, a lawyer with the Ventura County Public
Defender's Office.
The discussion
was an hour and a half long and The Star published the story today.
But my job as a reporter is often difficult because of space
limitations that come with publishing a daily newspaper.
I can best describe it this way: It is like trying to put an
elephant inside a breadbox.
So, I am fortunate that my blog -- The Court Reporter -- allows me to publish the notes and
quotes that didn't make it in the newspaper.
For the next few days, I am going to publish more in my blog about
the comments, exchanges of Mr. Schwartz, Ms. Bhat, Mr. Bowers and Mr. Brooks that weren't published in the newspaper.
This is Mr. Brooks
comments and observations about false confessions:
"Our criminal justice system has become more civilized in the last 50 years. There is not so much as the baton and light techniques going on. In my experience, it hasn't actually been people broken down giving confessions that are false."
"Usually, they sign confessions when they are angry and want to get out of there. It's more, give me that paper I'll sign it. I don't care. I didn't do it. What difference does it make? I sign it. You're not going to convict me."
What would induce
someone to sign a false confession?
Attorney Bill Haney who was the moderator asked Mr. Brooks.
"Twelve hours or four fours, depending on what the level of patience is. Ultimately, he just says, 'I've got to get out of here. Okay, I did it. That's what you guys want to hear."
"Most of the time, when people confess, they did commit the crime. That's the reality. But the training that officers receive isn't to find out the truth. It's to confirm what a police officer's questioning them about."
Mr. Brooks maintains that police aren't trained to seek the truth.
"They train them into people that get you to talk. And usually, they turn out the right result. They get a guilty person to confess to something they did."
"Every once in awhile, you get a person that says, 'just give me the paper. I've got to get the hell out of here."
Adding, "Now, maybe you get a jailhouse snitch to confirm it. Maybe, you get a bad ID to confirm it and you get a wrongful conviction."
