BARRY SCHECK: It's just extraordinary.
BARRY SCHECK: Here's a tweet from @KLCARRICO.
"How did your role in the OJ Simpson trial impact you negatively and positively."
Well, ya know, it's a mixed bag.
Uh..I don't think the Simpson case did anything good for the American criminal justice system.
The only silver lining was..uh..the critique that we made of the evidence in that case..is
that we didn't contest the reliability of DNA testing.
What we pointed out is that the ways that they collected and handled the evidence was
a disaster.
And oddly enough, while there were plenty of people that were very upset by the acquittal,
I think that among certainly law enforcement people understood that what we did was important
in terms of critiquing the handling of the evidence and uh..that helped us advance, I
think, our reform agenda and helped us a great deal in being able..have credibility to clean
up forensic science.
But, in terms of everything else about the Simpson case, cameras in the court room, the
creation of these commentary shows, you know, like Nancy Grace, and things like that.
I don't think that's done very much good for the criminal justice system.
I think it's hurt.
@ADAMNEUHAUS, "What's the biggest obstacle in getting more of these cases overturned?"
I would say these procedural bars in court and our inability to get into court to present
the new evidence of innocence.
"Why was Troy Davis unable to get a full hearing?
What was the legal reasoning?"
Oh my God, that's such a travesty.
Um..in the courts in Georgia, they had a rule about recantation evidence.
And the recantation rule is that, even though there were quite a number of the eye witnesses
in the Troy Davis case that recanted their testimony and said they were forced into it..they
really couldn't identify him, um..the rule in Georgia was that the court will not consider
recantations unless you can prove that it was quote on quote, "the purest fabrication",
which meant that you were in jail somewhere else at the time you said you were present
on the sidewalk and made an observation.
And that's not a good rule.
I'm not saying that recantation evidence shouldn't be, in some fashion, disfavored compared to
other evidence of uh..innocence post-conviction because if you testified under oath one way
once and now you're saying "I'm recanting it" there better be a good reason..uh..in
order to evaluate the credibility.
But at the same time, to have that rule, which was virtually unique in the country, that's
what prevented him from getting a full and fair hearing in the state courts, which is
what he needed.
But in the final analysis, uh..given all the profound data about Troy Davis' guilt, I think
it was just a great tragedy and disaster for this country that he was executed with the
whole world watching and especially by a four to three vote that may have divided along
racial lines, that was a terrible message to the world.
@MARYAMRAMEZANI, "How do you raise funds for your efforts?
And, thank you for what you and your team do."
Thank you for that question!
Go to innocenceproject.org and donate.
Most of our money comes from people out there that are watching this, from individual contributors
small and large and hopefully a lot of people larger.
We were voted by our peers and the non-profit criminal justice community "the most effective
and efficient organization."
We really keep track of it.
We have a great executive director, Madeline deLone.
You know, it's a great group of people, very idealistic.
And uh.. we are really effective with the money.
BARRY SCHECK: Subscribe to THNKR.