The New England Innocence Project, an organization employing several Boston University students, said yesterday wrongfully convicted prisoners should be freed through DNA testing.
Professor Stanley Fisher, who teaches at the School of Law and has been associated with New England Innocence Project since its birth a few years ago, co-sponsored the presentation with the Criminal Justice Society, a student organization at BU. About 35 students attended the speech at the Law School.
In the past two years, four wrongfully accused citizens regained their freedom in Massachusetts, and 101 prisoners have been freed from prison over 10 years, according to Project attorney Aliza Kaplan.
“You watch them walk out of prison and it’s just such a great time for them,” said attorney Patricia Ray.
Ray and Kaplan run the pro bono organization from the law firm Testa, Hurwitz and Thibeault. They work with a network of other attorneys, law professors and students around the area, Kaplan said.
“We are one of many projects that work to use DNA testing to help exonerate the wrongly accused from prison,” she said.
The Innocence Project finds usable evidence in cases, has the DNA tested, and helps the innocent get out of prison, Kaplan said.
“We look at every single case no matter what. We’ll send everyone a questionnaire and make sure they all get reviewed,” said Kaplan. “Sixty percent of the people who go through the testing are innocent, and that is worth it.”
Students play a big role in the process, by reviewing the cases and helping the network decide which ones to take on, Kaplan said.
“I basically screen the cases, take the information on the questionnaire and track down whatever I can,” said Dawn Goldberg, a School of Law sophomore who has been working with the Project since last summer.
Students search for evidence that could possibly be used for DNA testing and write a memo with their recommendation to the review committee, Goldberg said.
Five BU students are currently working on the New England Innocence Project, according to Fisher, who is involved with the project along with fellow BU law professor David Rossman.
“I think everybody who goes to law school has the fantasy to help the innocent go free,” Fisher said. “It appeals to the sense of public service.”
The program educates students about post-conviction procedures and the defects in the judicial system, he said.
One problem is witness identifications and scientific evidence are not always reliable, Ray said.
“A lot of pressure is put on witnesses to say something that isn’t true,” she said. “There are scientists from police labs that have basically lied on the stand.”
Ineffective assistance of counsel leads to wrongful convictions, Ray said. Everyone is entitled to counsel, but not necessarily good counsel. In some cases, inexperienced lawyers represent people facing the death penalty. In others, lawyers show up drunk or fall asleep mid-trial.
Ray said she and her colleagues often run into problems acquiring usable evidence. In Massachusetts, for example, there are no statutes requiring the preservation of evidence.
According to Kaplan, only 18 states have statutes providing for the preservation of evidence, and 26 states have statutes allowing prisoners to petition for access to evidence for testing purposes.
Funding the investigation and testing is a large problem for prisoners, Kaplan said. In a case she is working on in New Hampshire, Kaplan is in the third round of a test that the prisoner’s wife has spent her life savings on.
Compensation for lost time is only guaranteed in four states, said Kaplan, who said she felt not enough is given to really get someone back on his or her feet again.
Now that the Supreme Judicial Court allows DNA as credible evidence, which was not the case until the late 1990s, the New England Innocence Project can perform tests for cases that took place before this technology was available, Kaplan said.
According to Ray, prior to recent advancements in science, a substantial amount of blood was needed to perform DNA tests. Scientists have since developed ways to test even a small drop of body fluid.
“The most interesting thing is just how reliable DNA is, and that you can take evidence from 20 years ago and use it,” said Julia Letoutchaia, a Law freshman attending the lecture.
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