The number of death- row inmates has swelled to 3,517. The Northwestern conference will also explore the many reasons for mistaken verdicts, and practical reforms that could help prevent this ultimate injustice. Clarence Brandley, an African-American janitor, was accused of killing a white girl in Texas in 1980. But myopia and expediency may be to blame as often as malevolence. But the greatest source of bad convictions is lousy lawyering for the defense.
Judges often assign capital cases to inexperienced or marginally talented attorneys.
You've got that man's life in your hands. You can take it or not. That's all I have to say. His client was executed in 1992.