Staff Writer
Prisoners have been sending letters to the Florida Innocence Commission with the hopes of getting a new trial. But the letters are being forwarded to the proper offices because going to trial is not included in the two-year plan for the commission.
There may be confusion regarding the function of the Florida Innocence Commission, created by the Florida Supreme Court, and the Innocence Project, “a national litigation and policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system.”
“We’ve received letters from prisoners, but handling those requests is not the duty given to us by the Supreme Court,” said Lester Garringer, executive director of the Innocence Commission. “We are not going to reinvent the wheel. The commission will look at policy and procedure, find out what went wrong and make recommendations on how to correct it.”
After the first meeting of the commission Sept. 10, there is no confusion about its goal among its members.
“The work of this commission will be challenging and daunting,” said Howard Coker, a Jacksonville attorney who is also a former Florida Bar president and member of the Innocence Commission. “But if it prevents one person from being wrongfully convicted, it’s all worth it.”
Attorneys Hank Coxe of Jacksonville and Rod Smith of Gainesville are also on the commission.
Two prisoners that had been freed because of wrongful convictions appeared before the commission to tell their stories and take questions from the members at the first meeting Sept. 10.
“The stories they told were very sobering and illustrated the effect that a wrongful conviction can have on a person’s life,” said Coker.
The commission also approved its mission statement at the first meeting: “The Florida Innocence Commission is established to provide a mechanism to recommend to the Supreme Court of Florida solutions to eliminate or significantly reduce the causes for wrongful or erroneous convictions.”
Coker learned that there have been more than 250 people throughout the country who have been found to be the victim of a wrongful conviction. Eleven cases occurred in Florida. The commission received an overview of those cases at the initial meeting.
It will look at those cases and examine the issues of eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, informants, invalidated or improper forensic science and professional responsibility and accountability.
“Our charge is to study where the system has failed,” said Coker, “and provide recommendations on how to avoid convictions of truly innocent people.”
The 23-member panel consists of politicians, judges, lawyers (both prosecutors and defenders), professors and law enforcement officers.
“We have a very talented, diverse group of people,” said Coker. “Everyone agrees with the goal, but we may have differences with how that is best achieved.”
He acknowledged that part of the goal was to maintain the public’s trust in the justice system.
“The wrongful conviction of innocent people leaves the public with a lack of confidence in the justice system,” said Coker. “A vast majority of people want to get it right, but we’ve got to make sure there are safeguards for situations that run astray.”
DNA testing has being relied upon to correct some of the situations Coker refers to and it has also helped the legal system take a closer look at its processes and procedures.
“DNA testing has brought the issue of wrongful convictions to the forefront,” said Coker. “What we’ve learned is there are other root causes that lead to innocent people being convicted.”
And though his current practice may focus on civil court, Coker drew from his days as a state attorney to express why he wanted to be a part of the commission.
“As a former state attorney, I would hate to think someone who I prosecuted was wrongfully sent to jail,” said Coker.
The members of the commission aren’t alone in their pursuit of a just court system. The Florida Legislature supported the development of the Innocence Commission through a one-time legislative grant of $200,000. An additional grant of about $115,000 has been provided by the Florida Bar Foundation.
The commission is required to submit an interim report to the Florida Supreme Court by June 30, 2011, and a final report and recommendations by June 30, 2012.
The next meeting of the commission is Nov. 22 in Tampa and will feature a presentation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on eyewitness misidentification.
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