What if?
Mark Bennett recently posted on the long awaited exoneration of James Blair. That story has been covered elsewhere. In case you don't know, Blair was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Ashley Estelle. Many people at least know Ashley's name because of Ashley's law, which was enacted as a result of her death. A critical piece of evidence against Blair were hairs, which the State claimed matched Blair. Scientific tests were subsequently able to exclude Blair. More recently, genetic material under her fingernails also excluded Blair. After an exhaustive re-investigation, Collin County District Attorney John Roach finally concluded that there was not enough evidence to prosecute Blair again.
The investigation included 5,000 man hours, and almost $50,000. Mr. Bennett's comment was that more money was probably spent on the investigation than was spent on Mr. Blair's original defense. He's not the first to point out the lack of resources devoted to defending capital defendants. You only have to look at high profile celebrity prosecutions to discover what a difference money makes. Resources (which includes money and time) make a difference in most cases. Unless you have an extremely wealthy client, defendants are always at a disadvantage.
I don't have the answer, but I can identify the problem. You only have to look at the recent exonerations to see what a difference money and time can make;although certainly not all, many of those wrongfully convicted may have been cleared if they had access to all the resources the government used to prosecute them. Unless we devote the resources to defending those whose liberty the government is trying to take away, there is always going to be injustice.
The investigation included 5,000 man hours, and almost $50,000. Mr. Bennett's comment was that more money was probably spent on the investigation than was spent on Mr. Blair's original defense. He's not the first to point out the lack of resources devoted to defending capital defendants. You only have to look at high profile celebrity prosecutions to discover what a difference money makes. Resources (which includes money and time) make a difference in most cases. Unless you have an extremely wealthy client, defendants are always at a disadvantage.
I don't have the answer, but I can identify the problem. You only have to look at the recent exonerations to see what a difference money and time can make;although certainly not all, many of those wrongfully convicted may have been cleared if they had access to all the resources the government used to prosecute them. Unless we devote the resources to defending those whose liberty the government is trying to take away, there is always going to be injustice.
