Wrongful conviction is the topic of many modern TV shows. It’s fun to watch and pick a side. When the show is over, you turn off the TV and go about your life. However, when it’s real life… it’s not so entertaining to actually be wrongfully convicted. Naturally, obtaining the truth from a witness can be very difficult. Sometimes, a testimony can be manipulated to protect certain people from going to prison, and someone else takes the fall. In the below case of wrongful conviction, the accused individual needs to hire a private investigator to uncover the truth from the right people at the right time.
How Common Are Wrongful Convictions?
It’s estimated that 0.016% of all cases are wrongful convictions. With this statistic, it seems like a stroke of bad luck to be wrongfully convicted. So, what causes a wrongful conviction? The primary issue that causes wrongful convictions are flawed eyewitness testimonies. Flaws in a testimony oftentimes occur due to the witness not remembering what actually happened. Another reason that causes wrongful convictions is flawed evidence. Sometimes, the evidence is manipulated or misleading. There’s instances of certain tests done by detectives that aren’t proven to be completely scientifically accurate. Sometimes, people involved intend to convict a specific individual. Evidence may be exaggerated or inaccurate. False confessions also cause wrongful convictions. There may be a misunderstanding of the situation, coercion, fear of harm, over-exhaustion, nervousness on the stand, and so on. In order to get to the bottom of a case and uncover the truth, a private investigator like RGH Investigations can help.
In Prison by Mistake
RGH Investigations was involved in a murder case in the Chicagoland area. Over 10 years ago, a man named ‘Bob’ was convicted of murder and sent to prison in Illinois. Bob claimed that he was not guilty in court. Witnesses, however, testified during trial that he murdered his best friend. This false testimony is what sent him to jail. Upon assessing and reopening the case 10 years later, it was reported that the witness testimony had changed.
At the time of the court case, the main witness was on drugs. She did not clearly remember what happened during the time of the murder. On top of the drug-induced memory loss, she was being threatened by authorities to testify in a certain way that would make Bob seem guilty. The authorities were threatening to take her and Bob’s young child away.
Ten years later, the witness changed her story. Bob’s now adult son testified. He claimed his father was helping him with a lemonade stand during the time of the murder. He vividly recalled his father at 1:30pm, the time of the murder, buying lemonade from him at his stand. The father, at 4pm, helped him take down the stand. Afterwards, they went to a baseball championship dinner. This evidence was sufficient enough to prove that Bob was not guilty.
Private Investigators in A Case of Wrongful Conviction
What can a private investigator do to help Bob in this case? RGH Investigations re-interviewed the witnesses. We got affidavits from the witnesses in order to proceed. A private investigator is not part of the case. We only help with locating and interviewing the witnesses within proper legal means. If you know of a murder case that is in need of a private investigator’s expertise, contact RGH Investigations today at 312-786-0376.
