DesideriScuri -> RE: White House Forencis Report (9/8/2016 4:52:18 PM)
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ORIGINAL: JeffBC quote:
ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri Here's the thing, though. If damning evidence isn't collected 'properly,' it's inadmissible in court, regardless of the accuracy of the evidence. If methods are redefined as to what is and what isn't proper/admissible/etc., how many people who's convictions were sealed (beyond a reasonable shadow of doubt) by evidence gained by that now-questionable method are going to have convictions overturned? That's what I'm most concerned about. The next thing I'm concerned about, is are all these cases going to have to be retried, and who is going to pay for that? Perhaps if we're not so black & white about this? I personally find the idea of incorrectly incarcerating someone reprehensible and as a taxpayer I'm more than willing to pay to undo my horrific mistake. Does that mean that every case needs to be retried? I don't think so. I think each case relied on various methods to prove guilt. If some of those methods are proven later to be insufficient then my question is whether the rest of the case stands up. More, I'm guessing that the error rate in various tests is not all equal... some will carry more weight than others even after this review. I don't think retroactively revising "admissible" is very smart. I do think we could look at that now suspect information in context of the whole case and make some decisions about a retrial. Yes, I think there needs to be some gate in front of that process. Retroactively revising admissible would be a huge problem. I agree that an innocent being incarcerated is horrible. But, I also say that letting a guilty man go simply because of a 'change of thinking' on what is and what isn't admissible evidence (or admissible methods of gathering evidence), is horrible, too. How far back are we to look at verdicts? Do we go back to the first time the method was used as admissible and go from there? I don't know if the alleged inadmissible methodology is accurate or not. Way out of my league. If we determine, through evidence-based and scientific methods, that a methodology isn't actually accurate, would changing the standards for prior cases be considered ex post facto?
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