Innocence+Commissions

Home =**Innocence Commissions**=


 * ======**Definition**- An innocence commission is a legal commission set up by a government to review criminal convictions in a new light.======
 * **History**- In 2002, the first U.S. state to develop an Innocence commission was North Carolina. The Innocence Commission was developed to rehear cases where the accused and their advocates claim wrongful conviction. The commission was founded after a series of high-profile cases of conviction were overturned.


 * **Exonerate-** to declare officially that somebody is not to blame or is not guilty of wrongdoing.
 * **Repressed Memory**- when a traumatic experience happens, memory may be stored away in the mind until a later time in life, sometimes 20 years later.
 * Trial (approximately 15 years after the "crime"), Mudd Jr. testified, proven by psychologist to suffer from repressed memory.
 * Convinced by others that Slutzker killed his father, didn't actually see

 68 Percent Error Rate Found in Death Case Study

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 * Steven Slutzker Case **
 * John Mudd Jr. Claimed that he saw 'Steven Slutzker' murder his father.
 * He was proven to be asleep on the couch when the murder happened and didn't see or hear anything, however testified against Slutzker in the favor of conviction.
 * One of the 12 jurors stated that during Amy Slutzker's testimony, “You could feel the hatred. She was determined to kill him. This injured her credibility.”
 * She obviously disliked Steven so much that she testified against him in order to get rid of him, altering the case.
 * Initial Appeals Denied
 * 21 unseen court reports held from Slutzger's attorney in first appeal request
 * one held statement of woman who said that she saw the man, and if it was Slutzker, she would have recognized him
 * Judge ruled that this tainted the case
 * May have raised question in a juror's head about whether or not Slutzker was actually the man seen with Mrs. Mudd
 * Deserves New Trial
 * Prosecution's questioning of the defense's alibi was virtually nonexistant
 * Prosecution was deficient due to lack of alibi witness
 * Mudd Jr.'s repressed memory may not be true
 * His therapist said she was there when people repeatedly told Mudd Jr. that Slutzker killed his father and that that may have altered his memory into what he wanted to believe.
 * Mudd Jr. stated that he was going to kill him (obvious revenge, altered viewpoint, illegitimate testimony)
 * Slutzker is waiting for possible appeal to be granted
 * Slutzker has "no grudge" against anyone, just wants to get out and see his wife