Innocence Project Backs NY Investigative Reforms
A group that uses DNA tests to exonerate the wrongfully convicted is expected to release a report today that criticizes the state of New York for failing to adopt reforms to prevent wrongful convictions.
Twenty-three New York inmates have been exonerated by DNA evidence, placing the state behind Texas and Illinois for DNA exonerations, says the Innocence Project. Its report calls on the state to enact legislation to improve evidence collection methods, the New York Times reports.
New York could help prevent false confessions if it were among the nine states that require videotaped confessions, the report says. And it would be barred from destroying evidence needed to prove innocence if it joined the 22 states that require preservation of crime-scene evidence.
