Famed attorney works to
protect innocent
Scheck: The U.S.
judicial system is riddled with flaws that lead the prosecution and conviction
of innocent people
Tom Carpenter
Daily Cougar Staff
Former O. J. Simpson attorney and law professor
Barry Scheck said the recent release of death row inmate Christopher Ochoa
is an example of the abysmal failure of the nation's judicial system.
"He was coerced (by the police) into a
confession for a crime he didn't commit," he said.
Scheck was on campus Wednesday to film
the second class of a 13-part nationwide law course at the UH Law Center
on his "Wrongful Convictions: Causes and Remedies" national tour.
The tour is designed to draw attention
to the massive problems that he says are rampant in the nation's judicial
system.
Barry Scheck, former O.J.
Simpson attorney, was on campus Wednesday as part of his national tour
calling attention to the flaws of the judicial system.
Nora Segura/
The Daily Cougar
Ochoa was released from prison after DNA
tests proved he was innocent.
"These cases are sending a serious message,
and they involve four different areas of legislation, which I really believe
can be enacted in this session (of Congress)," he said.
Scheck is advocating major changes in the
judicial process that send innocent men to prison and then fail to adequately
compensate them when DNA tests prove their innocence.
"Ochoa was only compensated $25,000 by
the state of Texas for the 12 years he was unjustly incarcerated," Scheck
said. "Other states are far more generous in compensating people who have
been wrongly convicted."
Scheck advocates a moratorium on the death
penalty in the United States until these safeguards are enacted.
"There's so much we can learn about the
system. There are so many fundamental injustices that we can correct,"
Scheck said.
Scheck wants Congress to pass the Innocence
Protection Act while it's in session. The act proposes four main changes
in the system that convicts innocent men to death.
The act would increase monetary compensation
for wrongfully convicted prisoners as well as create legislation for post-conviction
DNA testing.
"Right now, if you're innocent and you're
asking for a DNA test, there are statutes of limitations here in the state
of Texas. You can't get into court if a DNA test can prove you were wrongfully
convicted or sentenced," Scheck said. "You need that opportunity, and if
you can't afford the test, the state should pay for it so we can do some
justice."
Scheck believes this will not only exonerate
the innocent, but like the Ochoa case, it will help identify the person
who did the crime before he or she commits more crimes.
The third section of the act deals with
the indigent defense of the prisoners who can't afford lawyers.
"The lawyers just have to be paid. A serious
commitment to this has to be done. It's been studied to death in Texas.
We all know the problems," Scheck said.
The fourth section of the bill would create
what Scheck calls "innocence commissions."
Scheck wants a blue ribbon panel with subpoena
powers that would investigate what went wrong in the judicial system and
would offer ways to fix the system.
"I'm sure it's something that all prosecutors
and defense lawyers, all liberals and conservatives, and Democrats and
Republicans can support. It's just common sense," Scheck said.
Scheck said the act would give law enforcement
officials the tools to deal with policemen who coerce innocent people who
confess to crimes they didn't commit, like Ochoa.
