Convicted of being the wrong color

Police and prosecutors want a quick case and pressure five witnesses to point to the wrong guy. Accusers Recant, but Hopes Still Fade in Sing Sing - New York Times What is the reasoning of the justice system?

“It strains credulity to believe that five unshaken trial witnesses would suddenly claim that they had testified falsely under oath,” [the first judge] wrote in a 1995 decision. Had Mr. Bermudez presented fewer than five, he said, it would have been more believable.

In 1997, a state appeals court, citing “the inherent unreliability of recantations,” affirmed the conviction.

WTF? Since the admission of DNA evidence and a look at the history of appeals of those wrongly convicted, recantations are becoming more credible.

Tags: Justice, legal system, recantations, death+row, injustice, crime, punishment, innocence, guilt