Waubonsee Community College

Smoke but no fire, convicting the innocent of crimes that never happened, Jessica S. Henry

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

index present

non fiction

Smoke but no fire

bibliography

1134458990

Jessica S. Henry

convicting the innocent of crimes that never happened

"Rodricus Crawford was convicted and sentenced to die for the murder by suffocation of his beautiful baby boy. After years on death row, evidence confirmed what Crawford had claimed all along: he was innocent, and his son had died from an undiagnosed illness. Crawford is not alone. A full one-third of all known exonerations stem from no-crime wrongful convictions. The first book to explore this common but previously undocumented type of wrongful conviction, Smoke but No Fire tells the heartbreaking stories of innocent people convicted of crimes that simply never happened. A suicide is mislabeled a homicide. An accidental fire is mislabeled an arson. Corrupt police plant drugs on an innocent suspect. A false allegation of assault is invented to resolve a custody dispute. With this book, former New York City public defender Jessica S. Henry sheds essential light on a deeply flawed criminal justice system that allows--even encourages--these convictions to regularly occur. Smoke but No Fire promises to be eye-opening reading for legal professionals, students, and activists alike as it grapples with the chilling reality that far too many innocent people spend real years behind bars for fictional crimes"--, Provided by publisher

Introduction : phantom crimes -- Forensic error : misclassified murders and mislabeled crimes -- False accusations : when lies become courtroom truths -- Police : crossing "the thin blue line" -- Prosecutors : winning, at all costs -- Defense lawyers : drowning in cases -- Judges : tilting the scales of justice -- Misdemeanors : not minor matters -- Conclusion : clearing the smoke