The DNA proved the confessions were false. Had Tony Snyder s purported confession prevented him from securing post-conviction DNA testing, he would be fourteen years into his 45 year sentence. Especially In Capital Cases . Recent revelations reported by the Chicago Tribune about the lack of adequate counsel for inmates on Death Row in Illinois and Texas are troubling but not surprising. The American Bar Association has long been on record about this crisis, and in our book, Actual Innocence, we discuss at great length the terrible problem of incompetent counsel we found among the individuals exonerated with post-conviction DNA testing.
Nothing guarantees the conviction of the innocent more than a bad or underfunded lawyer.
We have to rely on the adversary system, and the key to that system is a defense lawyer who is qualified, has adequate funds for investigation and experts, and is compensated well enough to provide good representation. To Improve the Criminal Justice System. Post-conviction DNA exonerations have a special value for improving the entire criminal justice system. Never before have so many people been exonerated so quickly without any debate about their actual innocence. That is why Barry Scheck, Jim Dwyer and I wrote Actual Innocence.