Unraveling the Wrongful Conviction

A Guide for Analyzing Innocence Claims
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-89531-4
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 276 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

This book lays out the author’s proven approach to investigating and assessing a defendant’s claim of innocence whether pre-trial, or post-conviction. The author weaves his 35 years of experience into a simple step-by-step process, showing the reader how to objectively investigate a wrongful conviction. He uses his case histories to describe an alternative to the “trial and error” methods so often used.  As a result, this book offers a methodical and repeatable approach to assessing and investigating a defendant’s claim of innocence. The book refers to the actual investigations, which led to dozens of exonerations, prison releases, acquittals, and dismissed charges in Murder I cases.

Claims of innocence may be common, but knowledge of an objective way to assess those claims is hardly universal. This book was written for the classroom and the field. It is essential reading for the student, the Innocence Project volunteer, practitioner or anyone interested in correcting a wrongful conviction, or avoiding the next false conviction.

Zielgruppe

General, Professional Reference, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Grothaus, Daniel

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Strafrecht Rechtsmedizin, Forensik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Innen-, Bildungs- und Bevölkerungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Kriminalsoziologie
• Rechtswissenschaften Strafrecht Kriminologie, Strafverfolgung
• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht Verwaltungsrecht Verwaltungspraxis Polizei

Inhaltsverzeichnis

The Preface: Why I Do This

Chapter 1. How Do I Start? Where Do I Start?

Chapter 2. Organizing the Raw Data

Chapter 3. Building My Murder Memo (Part 1): Organizing The Details

Chapter 4. Building My Murder Memo (Part 2): Reviewing the Police Investigation

Chapter 5. Building My Murder Memo (Part 3): Reviewing witness interviews and lab reports while Creating my People List and To Dos

Chapter 6. Time To Get Out: My First Client Visit

Chapter 7. Time To Get Out: Visiting the Crime Scene

Chapter 8. Identifying and Finding My Witnesses

Chapter 9. The Witness Interview (Part 1): Approaching The Witness

Chapter 10. The Witness Interview (Part 2): The Interview and the Report

Chapter 11. My Work Completed -- Now What?

Über Autor(innen)

Dan Grothaus is a former journalist and investigative reporter, who became a criminal defense investigator, working mainly on capital murder cases. He helped develop innocence claims resulting in 15 exonerations/prison releases; six acquittals at trial; and the dismissal of nine capital murder charges pre-trial. Grothaus previously worked as a reporter with the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post, after earning his Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. While still working in print, Grothaus wrote and produced an hour-long documentary on pedophiles, Child At Risk, for the Houston PBS Station, KUHT. That documentary was awarded a National Emmy in 1986.