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Contributing causes confirmed through Innocence Project research. Actual numbers may be higher, and other contributing factors to wrongful convictions include government misconduct and bad lawyering.

"The annals of criminal law are rife with instances of mistaken identification."
—The Michigan Supreme Court in People v. Anderson (1973)

Causes of Wrongful Convictions

The Michigan Innocence Clinic was the first clinic of its kind to work on non-DNA exonerations. Our work has revealed particular circumstances far too often seen in cases of wrongful conviction. These cases show us how the criminal justice system is in need of much repair and how the Michigan Innocence Clinic can combat troubling trends of the system.  In each case we have worked on, we have uncovered overlapping causes of wrongful convictions.

Following are common causes¹ of wrongful convictions; these are not the only causes, however:

Eyewitness Misidentification
Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide. Research shows that the human mind is not like a tape recorder; we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall them like a tape that has been rewound. Instead, witness memory is like any other evidence at a crime scene; it must be preserved carefully and retrieved methodically, or it can be contaminated.

Junk Science
Many forensic testing methods have been applied with little or no scientific validation and with inadequate assessments of their significance or reliability. As a result, forensic analysts sometimes testify in cases without a proper scientific basis for their findings. And in some cases, forensic analysts have engaged in misconduct.

False Confessions
In many cases, innocent defendants make incriminating statements, deliver outright confessions, or plead guilty. Regardless of the age, capacity, or state of the confessor, what they often have in common is a decision—at some point during the interrogation process—that confessing will be more beneficial to them than continuing to maintain their innocence.

Government Misconduct
In some cases, government officials take steps to ensure that a defendant is convicted despite weak evidence or even clear proof of innocence.

Snitches
Often, statements from people with incentives to testify—particularly incentives that are not disclosed to the jury—are the central evidence in convicting an innocent person. People have been wrongfully convicted in cases in which snitches are paid to testify or receive favors in return for their testimony.

Bad Lawyering
The failure of overworked lawyers to investigate, call witnesses, or prepare for trial has led to the conviction of innocent people.

These factors are not the only causes of wrongful convictions. Each case is unique and many include a combination of issues.

¹Some content reproduced from The Innocence Project website.

Figures are percentages of total known exonerations. Source: National Registry of Exonerations.

What is wrong with the FBI?

NEWS: The World and Global Security Review: What is wrong with the FBI?
Broken: The Troubled Past and Uncertain Future of the FBI - Richard Gid Powers - Google Books
fbi and wrongful convictions - Google Search
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Open Cases: Why One-Third Of Murders In America Go Unresolved : NPR
How many unsolved murders are there? It’s greater than the population of Des Moines - DecodeDC Story
Why Are American Cops So Bad at Catching Killers? | The Marshall Project
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Domestic terrorism in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NSA Spying Did Not Result In a SINGLE Foiled Terrorist Plot
US Surveillance Wasn't Designed To Stop Domestic Terrorism, Even The San Bernardino Shooters
FBI admits Patriot Act snooping powers didn't crack any major terrorism cases - Washington Times
Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U. S. Government's ... - Joseph I. Lieberman - Google Books
60 Terrorist Plots Since 9/11: Lessons in Domestic Counterterrorism
From 2004 to 2014, over 2,000 terror suspects legally purchased guns in the United States - The Washington Post

FBI Intelligence Reform Since September 11, 2001: Issues and Options for Congress:

http://fas.org/irp/crs/RL32336.html

The FBI is responding by attempting to transform itself into an agency that can prevent terrorist acts, rather than react to them as crimes. The major component of this effort is restructuring and upgrading of its various intelligence support units into a formal and integrated intelligence program, which includes the adoption of new operational practices, and the improvement of its information technology. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, has introduced reforms to curb the autonomy of the organization's 56 field offices by consolidating and centralizing FBI Headquarters control over all counterterrorism and counterintelligence cases. He has also established (1) an Executive Assistant Director for Intelligence (EAD-I); (2) an Office of Intelligence to exercise control over the FBI's historically fragmented intelligence elements; and (3) field intelligence groups to collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence.

Reactions to these FBI reforms are mixed. Critics contend the reforms are too limited and have implementation problems. More fundamentally, they argue that the gulf between law enforcement and intelligence cultures is so wide, that the FBI's reforms, as proposed, are unlikely to succeed. They believe the FBI will remain essentially a reactive law enforcement agency, significantly constrained in its ability to collect and exploit effectively intelligence in preventing terrorist acts.

Supporters counter that the FBI can successfully address its deficiencies, particularly its intelligence shortcomings, and that the Director's intelligence reforms are appropriate for what needs to be done. They argue that the FBI is unique among federal agencies, because it supplies the critical ingredient to a successful war against terrorism in the U.S. -- unmatched law enforcement capabilities integrated with an improving intelligence program.

The congressional oversight role includes deciding on whether to accept, modify, or reject the FBI's intelligence reforms currently underway.

Congress may consider several options, ranging from support of the FBI's current reforms, to establishing a stand-alone domestic intelligence service entirely independent of the FBI. Congress may also reevaluate how it conducts oversight of the FBI.

Pending legislation on FBI intelligence reform includes, but is not limited to, S. 410, The Foreign Intelligence Collection Improvement Act of 2003, and S. 1520, The 9-11 Memorial Intelligence Reform Act.

"Terrorists for the FBI:" How the FBI Uses Informants to Surveil and Entrap Americans | Democracy Now!

problems with FBI as domestic intelligence agency - Google Search

FBI and institutional resistance to change - Google Search

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Figures are percentages of total known exonerations. Source: National Registry of Exonerations.

What is wrong with the FBI?

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