Seventyyearsago,inabookcalledConvictingtheInnocent,the

YaleLawSchoolprofessorEdwinBorchardproducedaclassic
studyofhowthewrongpersongetssenttoprisonortodeath.
ThehaplessinnocentsBorchardprofiledincludedacoalminer
andadoctor,CentralEuropeanimmigrantsandAmerican
blacks,anunemployedreligiousvisionaryandanAlgerianjohn
namedFrenchy.Inthosedaysexonerationwasalmostalwaysa
matterofluckoccasionally,forexample,asupposedmurder
victimwouldturnup"haleandhearty"sometimeafterthe
allegedmurdererlandedinthepenitentiary.Today,thanksto
DNAevidence(whenitisavailable),wrongfulconvictionscan
bereversedmoreconfidentlythaneverbefore.Andthat
confidenceallowsustoanalyzethereasonsforsuchconvictions
withgreatercertaintythanBorchardorhiscontemporaries
could.
Yetwhatisstrikingaboutthedeathpenaltyconvictions
overturnedrecently(ahundredhavebeenreversedinthepast
thirtyyears)andaboutothercasesinwhichDNAevidence
belatedlyshowedtheaccusedtobeinnocentishowclearlythe
convictionsrestedonthesameflawedfoundationsthatBorchard
identified.AsinBorchard'sday,whattendstodointhewrongly
convictedisthekindofevidencethatseemsclinching,thatoften
isclinchingnamely,eyewitnessidentificationsand
confessions.Butthehumanmemoryisnotavideorecorder;
eyewitnesstestimonyisnotoriouslyflawed.Andalthoughmost
ofthosewhoconfessareguilty,peoplecananddoconfessto
crimestheydidnotcommitsometimesbecausetheyare
coerced;sometimes(moreoften)becausetheyarebewildered,
frightened,orexhausted;sometimesbecausetheyarechildren,

oradultswiththementalcapacityofchildren;sometimes
becausetheirinterrogatorshavepresentedthemwithplausible
scenariosinwhichtheymighthavecommittedthecrimes
unknowinglywhileblackedout,forinstance,orwhileinthe
gripofanotherpersonality.