SACRAMENTO >> Legislation that will help keep innocent Californians out of prison is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown”s desk. Senate Bill (SB) 1058 allows a judge to determine that a wrongful conviction has occurred if expert testimony provided during a trial served as the primary basis for an incarcerated person”s conviction and has subsequently been retracted or disproved by scientific or technological advances.
“Quite simply, this bill will help keep innocent Californians out of prison,” Sen. Leno (D — San Francisco) said. “Current law allows a judge to reconsider a conviction if a key eyewitness recants his or her testimony, but the same standard does not apply to expert witnesses who depend on new and emerging technologies to make their conclusions. This bill clarifies that false evidence provided by such an expert witness may be considered when proving a person”s innocence.”
According to the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, forensic science testing errors are the second most common reason for the wrongful conviction of innocent men and women in the U.S. SB 1058 allows a judge to look at false expert testimony as a factor when considering an individual”s challenge to his or her incarceration. The bill is sponsored by the California Innocence Project and Northern California Innocence Project.
“Over the last few decades we have witnessed tremendous technological and scientific advances in the field of forensics, many of which have proven older theories incorrect and outdated,” Linda Starr, Northern California Innocence Project legal director, said. “Unfortunately, there are innocent people currently in prison based on inaccurate forensic evidence. SB 1058 is a common sense measure that gives courts the ability to weigh the most current, accurate and reliable forensic evidence in determining whether to overturn a potentially wrongful conviction. Our justice system, and the wrongfully convicted, deserve nothing less.”
Current law allows an incarcerated person to demonstrate that there is a reasonable probability that the trial result would have been different had false evidence not been introduced. However, existing law does not account for expert forensic testimony introduced at trial which is later unsubstantiated or disproved, either by that same expert or the scientific community.
“This bill allows us to fix our mistakes,” said Katherine Williams, legislative advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union of California (ACLU) of California, which supports SB 1058. “It opens the courthouse doors once more so that innocent people who have been wrongly convicted because of someone else”s error will have a chance to clear their name and regain their freedom.”
SB 1058 has received bipartisan support in both houses of the Legislature. It is supported by a coalition of criminal justice and civil rights organizations, including the ACLU, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, California Catholic Conference, California Public Defenders Association, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.
