Ethical Issues Paper 2
There are certain rights that criminal defendants involved in the criminal justice system have. These rights are in place to ensure that criminals are not receiving a punishment that is not conducive to the crime. Sometimes though the justice system fails and innocent people are required to spend time incarcerated for crimes they did not commit, and for extended periods. There are many reasons for wrongful convictions including mistaken eyewitness testimony and suggestive lineups; false confessions; perjury by perpetrators, witnesses, jailhouse snitches, and forensic examiners; “junk science;” sloppy laboratory procedures; “tunnel vision” by police and prosecutors and failures to obtain exculpatory evidence; prosecutor …show more content…
Inside the building, police found 25-year-old Cleo McDougal shot to death. The man who escaped on foot was McDougal’s brother, Matenis Carter, who initially told police that he did not know the gunman. Police said the shooting was the result of a drug deal that went bad. Several days later, Carter told police the gunman was 26-year-old Elroy Lucky Jones, a man Carter knew. Jones, who had a prior juvenile conviction for assault with intent to commit murder and other adult convictions for possession of narcotics, denied involvement in the crime. Jones was charged with first-degree murder, home invasion, assault with intent to commit murder and illegal use of a firearm. Jones went on trial in Wayne County Circuit Court in 2006 and was convicted after Carter identified him as the gunman. One witness testified for the defense that he had seen the gunman and that the gunman was not Jones. The defense witness said he was asked by police to view a lineup that contained Jones. The witness testified that a police officer pressured him to identify Jones, but that he refused. Jones’s mother said he was home sleeping at the time of the shooting. On October 19, 2006, a jury convicted Jones on all counts and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. …show more content…
A confirmatory bias is fixating on a preconceived notion and ignoring other possibilities such as in regard to a specific suspect during a police investigation. (Pollock, 2015, p. 71) Witness testified that they told police McDougal’s actual killers name during the initial investigation, but was ignored because officers already had their mind set on Jones. Confirmatory bias is related to noble cause corruption in that once there is determination that the defendant is guilty, the perception could lead to further misconduct to make sure a conviction is