Executions have been put on hold in Illinois because the governor believes the system is faulty. DNA testing is clearing people left and right who have sat in prison for years. Just this week, Jennifer Thompson appeared on NBC's Today where she spoke of how she honestly but incorrectly picked her rapist out of a line up that led to his incarceration of 11 years in prison before DNA exonerated him . The current cause celebre is Gary Graham who sits on Texas death row. There was only one eyewitness to the crime, and the growing objection to his execution is that one witness is not sufficient proof.
Eyewitness testimony is no longer good enough for some.
The public believes wrongful convictions have occurred in the past and, given the opportunity to serve on a jury, they are not going to make the same mistake. If this increases the burden of proof on the prosecution, so be it. Eight years ago, shortly before I took office, I was speaking with another assistant DA in Tarrant County about my upcoming employment adventure. Consequently, i told her, I needed to be absolutely certain to never prosecute a possibly innocent man because I could probably get a conviction. I was very naive.