In an article to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, D. Michael Risinger concludes that at least 3.3% of defendants sentenced to death in rape-murder cases in the 1980's were factually innocent of the charges.   Risinger reaches this shocking conclusion by comparing the number of DNA exonerations in rape-murder cases during this period with the number of capital rape-murder convictions where usable DNA connected to the perpetrator was found to be available when requested for testing. 

While Risinger stops short of deriving a universal wrongful conviction rate from this information, he notes persuasively that there is little reason to believe that this rate would be any lower when considering many kinds of less serious crimes and sentences.  He uses his conclusion to argue for reforms, such as those advocated by MAIP in the area of eyewitness identication procedures, that would cost society little, yet ensure that fewer innocent defendants are convicted of serious crimes.   

The article is well worth reading for anyone interested in the subject of wrongful convictions. 

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