Miscarriages of justice
● Miscarriage of justice
○ a failure of a court or judicial system to attain the ends of justice, especially
one which results in the convection of an innocent person or persons
■ This can result from non-disclosure of evidence by
● police
● prosecution
● fabrication of evidence
● poor identification
● overestimation of the evidential value of expert testimony
● unreliable confessions
○ due to police pressure or psychological instability
● misdirection by a judge during trial
○ To combat this they use the innocent project,
■ which has helped free more than 2,500 wrongfully convicted people
who have been exonerated in the past three decades.
○ In the case of the guildford four,
■ who spent 14 years in prison
● before their convictions for two IRA bomb explosions in
Guildford
○ were quashed by the court of appeal in 1989.
○ In the case of the Birmingham six
■ were wrongly convicted of the murder of 21 people are bombs
exploded in birmingham
● they spent 17 years in prison.
○ In the case of the Central Park Five
■ were wrongly convicted of the rape and aggravated assault of a 28
year old white women
● they served sentences ranging between 6 and 12 years.
● From analysing and examining cases
○ can draw the conclusion that miscarriages of justice do happen
■ Police misconduct is one reason for this
● in the case of the Central Park Five
○ whereby the suspects were interrogated for hours
without parental consent
■ with most of them being under 16.
● The boys were coerced by the police into making false
statements about their roles in the attack
○ leading to them being charged with assault and rape.
■ This was because the police were under
pressure from the public to convict them for the
assault on Trisha Meili.
, ■ Police misconduct was also present in the Guildford four
● whereby the suspects suffered intense coercian by the police
○ such as
■ intimidation
■ torture
■ threats to their families.
○ This was because the police were under pressure to
convict
■ due to the brutal nature of their interrogation
methods
● the four confessed to murder.
○ Similarly,
■ in the case of the Birmingham six,
● police carried out a specific stop and search by a specialist
branch of the police.
○ Due to this,
■ the six were assaulted by the police and
deprived of food and sleep whilst in custody.
● The six were threatened and beaten like the Guildford four
○ whilst being interrogated for 12 hours without a break
■ meaning they are likely to have also suffered
from exhaustion.
● This supports my conclusion that police misconduct does
happen
○ as a result miscarriages of justice do occur within our
criminal justice system
■ showing that the system is ,at times, unjust.
● I can also draw the conclusions that miscarriages of justice
○ happens largely due to evidence,
■ such as
● in the case of the Guildford four
○ where they admitted their guilt but then later retracted
their statements,
■ telling the court they only confessed due to the
torture.
○ It was also later revealed the evidence that would have
cleared the four was not brought to the attention of the
police.
■ Similarly
● in the case of the Birmingham six
○ the forensic evidence originally used to find positive
results of handling explosives
■ was overturned,
● with the judge saying as a result of fresh
evidence that these convictions were
unsafe and unsatisfactory.
● Miscarriage of justice
○ a failure of a court or judicial system to attain the ends of justice, especially
one which results in the convection of an innocent person or persons
■ This can result from non-disclosure of evidence by
● police
● prosecution
● fabrication of evidence
● poor identification
● overestimation of the evidential value of expert testimony
● unreliable confessions
○ due to police pressure or psychological instability
● misdirection by a judge during trial
○ To combat this they use the innocent project,
■ which has helped free more than 2,500 wrongfully convicted people
who have been exonerated in the past three decades.
○ In the case of the guildford four,
■ who spent 14 years in prison
● before their convictions for two IRA bomb explosions in
Guildford
○ were quashed by the court of appeal in 1989.
○ In the case of the Birmingham six
■ were wrongly convicted of the murder of 21 people are bombs
exploded in birmingham
● they spent 17 years in prison.
○ In the case of the Central Park Five
■ were wrongly convicted of the rape and aggravated assault of a 28
year old white women
● they served sentences ranging between 6 and 12 years.
● From analysing and examining cases
○ can draw the conclusion that miscarriages of justice do happen
■ Police misconduct is one reason for this
● in the case of the Central Park Five
○ whereby the suspects were interrogated for hours
without parental consent
■ with most of them being under 16.
● The boys were coerced by the police into making false
statements about their roles in the attack
○ leading to them being charged with assault and rape.
■ This was because the police were under
pressure from the public to convict them for the
assault on Trisha Meili.
, ■ Police misconduct was also present in the Guildford four
● whereby the suspects suffered intense coercian by the police
○ such as
■ intimidation
■ torture
■ threats to their families.
○ This was because the police were under pressure to
convict
■ due to the brutal nature of their interrogation
methods
● the four confessed to murder.
○ Similarly,
■ in the case of the Birmingham six,
● police carried out a specific stop and search by a specialist
branch of the police.
○ Due to this,
■ the six were assaulted by the police and
deprived of food and sleep whilst in custody.
● The six were threatened and beaten like the Guildford four
○ whilst being interrogated for 12 hours without a break
■ meaning they are likely to have also suffered
from exhaustion.
● This supports my conclusion that police misconduct does
happen
○ as a result miscarriages of justice do occur within our
criminal justice system
■ showing that the system is ,at times, unjust.
● I can also draw the conclusions that miscarriages of justice
○ happens largely due to evidence,
■ such as
● in the case of the Guildford four
○ where they admitted their guilt but then later retracted
their statements,
■ telling the court they only confessed due to the
torture.
○ It was also later revealed the evidence that would have
cleared the four was not brought to the attention of the
police.
■ Similarly
● in the case of the Birmingham six
○ the forensic evidence originally used to find positive
results of handling explosives
■ was overturned,
● with the judge saying as a result of fresh
evidence that these convictions were
unsafe and unsatisfactory.
