Benjamin E. Rosenberg in “Actual Innocence: the Curious Case of ‘People v. Hamilton,’” (NYLJ, Dec. 26, 2014) praises DNA exonerations but suggests that, by recognizing a free-standing actual-innocence claim, People v. Hamilton, 115 A.D.3d 12 (2d Dept. 2014), will cause meritless claims to prevail and impair the finality of convictions, upon which we rely.
But, besides freeing those who are innocent, the great gift provided by DNA exonerations is that they have demonstrated that, often, individuals falsely confess, innocent people plead guilty, witnesses err, scientific evidence is faulty, defense lawyers are ineffective, and prosecutors commit misconduct, and thus that many convictions in addition to ones involving DNA are flawed.
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