State should review cases for wrongful convictions

Published 1:30 am Thursday, October 27, 2022

In an article in Criminal Legal News this September is a story written by Jayson Hawkins, about Alvin Braggs, a Manhattan district attorney that started a post-conviction justice unit to review questionable convictions in Manhattan.

It’s the height of injustice to wrongfully prosecute, and if you’ve prosecuted the wrong person, then there is still someone out there committing the same crimes. To put a person through the process of conviction and incarceration when they are actually innocent is akin to kidnap, rape, and assault.

Conviction Integrity Units have been enacted across the country because of the steady increase in exonerations over time. Brooklyn is considered a national example of how prosecutors can play a key role in the exoneration process and how to streamline the review process. The way of doing exoneration reviews in Washington state ends up with innocent persons spending years or decades in prison when they shouldn’t. A conviction integrity unit should accept applications from anyone with a closed case.

Meaningful reviews will not only correct past mistakes but allow prosecutors to learn from their mistakes. The criminal justice system’s work is centered around community trust. At this time in U.S. history trust in the U.S. justice system is at an all-time low.

I know of far too many wrongfully convicted people currently serving time. In this country, this is an unforgivable crime, especially for a country that goes around the world preaching human rights. This is shameful, and hypocritical!

I beg state officials to consider my words, and put together a post-conviction justice unit, as other states have done, recognizing the need for this kind of case review to correct miscarriages of justice, and free those wrongfully convicted.

Samuel Valdez

Stafford Creek Correction Center

Aberdeen