Avoiding Wrongful Convictions: Re-Examining the 'Wrong-Person' Defense

34 Pages Posted: 26 Jun 2009

See all articles by Lissa Griffin

Lissa Griffin

Pace University School of Law

Date Written: 2009

Abstract

This Article reviews the history of the right to present a defense and closely examines the United States Supreme Court's modern analysis of that right. Part III analyzes the emergence of the right to present a defense that a third party committed the crime and concludes with a discussion of the Supreme Court's recent decision in South Carolina v. Holmes. Part IV then describes the current restrictive implementation of the wrong-person defense by the lower courts. Part V argues that the constitutional right to present a wrong-person defense is being insufficiently protected under current, arbitrary standards, and prescribes a constitutional analysis of the defense that is consistent with the Supreme Court's jurisprudence, more reflective of what the lower courts actually are doing, and that is likely to produce more reliable results.

Suggested Citation

Griffin, Lissa, Avoiding Wrongful Convictions: Re-Examining the 'Wrong-Person' Defense (2009). Seton Hall Law Review, Vol. 39, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1425731

Lissa Griffin (Contact Author)

Pace University School of Law ( email )

78 North Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603
United States
914-422-4231 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.pace.edu/page.cfm?doc_id=23170

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
77
Abstract Views
1,166
Rank
563,377
PlumX Metrics