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Illinois: a Model for Reform
Illinois Governor George H. Ryan declared a moratorium on excutions in his state on January 31, 2000. His actions were in response to the fact that 13 persons who had been sentenced to death in Illinois were subsequently determined to be actually innocent. After two years of study, the Illinois Governor's Commission on the death penalty issued a comprehensive report, including 85 recommendations for correction to the death penalty system.
The Spring 2005 edition of the California Defender magazine analyzes how California's death penalty system either follows or does not follow the recommendations of the Illinois Governor's Commission. The results are startling.
Of particular concern are deficiencies in California's police procedure for investigating capital murder. For example, the Illinois Commission recommends "after a suspect has been identified, the police should continue to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry whether these point toward or away from the suspect." California law does not require that police pursue inquiries pointing away from the defendant, and may actually excuse the failure to pursue leads, interview witnesses, and collect evidence. To combat the danger of false confessions, the Illinois Commission recommends, among other things, that police interviews be video taped, and that police should be required to make "a reasonable attempt to determine the suspect's mental capacity before interrogation, and if a suspect is determined to be mentally retarded, the police should be limited to asking nonleading questions and prohibited from implying they believe the suspect is guilty." I have handled cases where police inappropriately took advantage of a suspect's mental handicaps, and belive that these reforms are much needed.
The Illinois Commission recomends that police who work on homicide cases receive periodic training concerning: the risks of false testimony by in-custody informants; the risks of false testimony by accomplice witnesses; the dangers of tunnel vision or confirmatory bias; the risks of wrongful convictions in homicide cases; police investigative and interrogation methods; police investigating and reporting of exculpatory evidence; forensic evidence; and the risks of false confessions. Amazingly, California police officers are not trained in these areas.
It is time for public officials, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to address the deficiences in California's system. Defense counsel can do everything in their power to combat these problems, but so far, the agencies most able to improve the system have their heads burried in the sand.