Sadly, law enforcement is not often trained to find the truth, but rather an admittance. This leads to thousands of wrongful convictions. Here are the statistics:
- About 20,000 people in prison are innocent; this is between 2% and 10% of the entire prison population.
- Since 1989, 2,262 people in America have been exonerated from their wrongful convictions.
- In total, innocent people have served over 23,950 years in prison.
- Four of every 100 people sentenced to death are likely innocent, and only two become exonerated.
- Eyewitness misidentification accounts for 69% of wrongful convictions.
- False confessions account for about 29% of wrongful convictions.
- False accusations account are involved in 70% of wrongful convictions.
- The person who is wrongfully convicted serves 14 years in prison.
- In 75% of wrongful conviction cases, the actual criminal is found later.
- Withholding of exonerating evidence was present in 75% of wrongful convictions.
- Misdemeanors have the most wrongful convictions.
- About 60% of exonerees are African American.
- Black men spend an average of three years more waiting on exoneration than white men.
- Up to 28% of life imprisonment sentences are given to black men and only 17% to white men.
- Since 1989, at least 18 people with solid evidence of innocence have been given the death penalty in America.
If you are under investigation for a crime you did not commit, you need to hire a wrongful conviction attorney as soon as possible. The sooner you act, the sooner we can work on your case. Contact Mueller Law Firm in Novi for a free consultation by calling 248-489-WOLF (9653).
