The Criminal Justice As A Non-system

Preventing the Innocent from Being Executed: More Than 130 Death ...

BILL BERKOWITZ FOR TRUTHOUT AT BUZZFLASH

Contrary to popular belief, it is not always DNA evidence that leads to the freeing of the falsely convicted from prison. 'Often,' says veteran investigator Rosa Greenbaum, 'false convictions in cases lacking biological evidence can only be overturned through solid, traditional investigation.'

Television has always had a love affair with detective programs, dating back to the late 1940s and early 1950s when such shows as "Man Against Crime," "Martin Kane, Private Eye," and "The Adventures of Ellery Queen" featured the "hard boiled private eye," or "cerebral puzzle-solving" detective fighting crime, as an article on the website of The Museum of Broadcast Communications titled "Detective Programs" points out. As the decades passed, the genre changed significantly; the plots thickened, and the lives of the lead characters became more appealing as evidenced by anti-hero human/playfulness of James Garner in "The Rockford Files," or Peter Falk's endearing "Columbo." Later, "Hill Street Blues," NYPD Blue" and "Homicide" reached new heights with their excellent ensemble casts, deeper storytelling and cinematic achievements.

These days, however, the television crime solver is more likely to be a savvy criminalist or forensic detective who has access to all sorts of high-tech paraphernalia. When "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," also known as "CSI: Las Vegas," premiered in October 2000, Juan Roberto Melendez had been in prison for sixteen years. The show became an instant hit, in part because of its distinctive use of science and technology and in part because of the grisly crime scenes it portrayed. Naturally enough, CSI's success not only eventually led to such in-house spin-offs as "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York," it has also led to the burgeoning of high-tech police procedurals. Over the years, on television and in real life, DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) has become a household word.

While the detective genre has changed markedly over the years, one thing hasn't changed, the crime is usually solved at the end of the program; by hook or by crook the "bad guys" get caught.

But as we've seen with greater frequency in real life over the years, the supposed "good guys" - the police, prosecutors, crime lab operators and judges -- are not always the "good guys," and the "bad guys" are not always guilty.

And while many of those convicted of crimes they did not commit have been released from prison - many after having served long prison stretches -- because of DNA evidence, it is also true that good old-fashioned leg work by resolute investigators has been critical to gaining the release of the wrongfully convicted.

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