Legal Connections | Conviction Integrity Unit
Summary
TLDRThe Conviction Integrity Unit, part of Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit, investigates claims of wrongful convictions to ensure innocent individuals are not unjustly imprisoned. Monique Cotton Wharrel, a criminal defense attorney, discusses the unit's role in reviewing cases, particularly those without DNA evidence, and its commitment to justice. Since its 2018 inception, the unit has reviewed 55 applications and thousands of fingerprint-related cases. Wharrel emphasizes the importance of preventing innocent people from being victims of the criminal justice system, while law students from Florida A&M assist in case reviews.
Takeaways
- 🔍 The Ninth Judicial State Attorney's Office has a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) that investigates potential wrongful convictions.
- 🌍 Conviction Integrity Units exist across the country, with over 40 programs, but they are new to Florida, established in 2018.
- ⚖️ The CIU of Orange and Osceola Counties reviews claims to determine if individuals were wrongfully convicted and works toward exoneration if needed.
- 🧬 DNA evidence plays a major role in proving wrongful convictions, but not all cases can be proven through DNA.
- 🏛️ The criminal justice system should prioritize ensuring that innocent people are not wrongfully convicted, which makes the CIU's work essential.
- 📄 Applications for CIU reviews are available online, at the office, or by mail, and they can be submitted by individuals or on behalf of others.
- 👩⚖️ The interviewee has 20 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney and served as a professor and director at the University of Florida's Criminal Justice Center.
- 🎓 The CIU partners with Florida A&M University College of Law students, who intern and assist with case reviews.
- 📊 Since 2018, the CIU has received 55 review applications and is also reviewing 2,500 cases involving a fingerprint analyst whose work quality was questioned.
- 📢 If someone believes they or another person were wrongfully convicted, they are encouraged to reach out to the Conviction Integrity Unit for assistance.
Q & A
What is the Conviction Integrity Unit?
-The Conviction Integrity Unit is a program within the Ninth Judicial State Attorney's Office that investigates claims of wrongful convictions to determine if someone was wrongfully convicted and push for exoneration if needed.
How widespread are Conviction Integrity Units in the United States?
-There are over 40 Conviction Integrity Units across the country. However, the concept is relatively new to Florida, where only three such units were established in 2018.
Which areas does the Ninth Judicial Circuit's Conviction Integrity Unit cover?
-The Ninth Judicial Circuit’s Conviction Integrity Unit covers Orange and Osceola Counties in Florida.
Can Monique Cotton Wha-rel discuss specific cases currently under investigation?
-No, Monique Cotton Wha-rel cannot discuss specific cases under investigation, as they have not had an exoneration to date.
What role does DNA evidence play in overturning wrongful convictions?
-DNA evidence has been a critical tool in proving wrongful convictions by identifying individuals who were wrongfully convicted. However, not all wrongful convictions can be proven with DNA evidence.
Why is a program like the Conviction Integrity Unit important in Florida?
-The program is important because it ensures that innocent people are not unjustly imprisoned. The criminal justice system should focus on convicting the right individuals and protecting innocent people from wrongful convictions.
How can individuals or representatives apply for a conviction review?
-Applications for conviction integrity reviews are available online, at the Ninth Judicial Circuit office, or can be requested by mail. Individuals can apply on behalf of themselves, or someone else can apply on their behalf.
What is Monique Cotton Wha-rel's background?
-Monique Cotton Wha-rel has been a criminal defense attorney for 20 years and was a professor at the University of Florida for 16 years, where she directed the Criminal Justice Center.
Is the Conviction Integrity Unit looking for volunteers?
-While they are not currently seeking general volunteers, they have a program where law students from Florida A&M University College of Law intern with the unit and assist in reviewing wrongful conviction cases.
How many cases has the Conviction Integrity Unit received since its inception?
-Since its opening in September 2018, the Conviction Integrity Unit has received 55 applications for review, along with approximately 2,500 fingerprint review cases related to issues with a fingerprint analyst from the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Outlines
🔍 The Conviction Integrity Unit: Ensuring Justice
The video begins by introducing the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU), a program created by the Ninth Judicial State Attorney's Office, aimed at investigating possible wrongful convictions. Monique Cotton Wha-rel, a representative from the unit, explains that while similar programs exist across the U.S., the concept is relatively new in Florida. Three such units were established in Florida in 2018, with the Ninth Judicial Circuit serving Orange and Osceola Counties. Their primary goal is to review claims of wrongful conviction and seek exoneration if the evidence supports innocence. DNA evidence plays a significant role, but not all wrongful convictions can be solved with DNA alone.
❓ Why the Conviction Integrity Unit is Critical
Monique highlights the importance of the Conviction Integrity Unit, noting that its existence is crucial in preventing innocent people from being punished for crimes they did not commit. The criminal justice system’s primary purpose is to convict the guilty, but it is equally important to ensure that innocent individuals are not unjustly imprisoned. The integrity of the justice system relies on addressing wrongful convictions to protect those who have been wronged by it.
📋 Application Process for the Conviction Integrity Unit
In this section, Monique describes how people can approach the Conviction Integrity Unit to submit an application for review. Applications are available on their website, at the office, or can be requested by mail. These applications can be filled out by individuals on behalf of someone or directly by the person claiming to have been wrongfully convicted. The unit makes it accessible for anyone to apply for a review of a case where there may have been a miscarriage of justice.
👩⚖️ Monique’s Journey to the Conviction Integrity Unit
Monique shares her background and how she became involved with the Conviction Integrity Unit. With 20 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney and 16 years teaching at the University of Florida as the director of its Criminal Justice Center, Monique was drawn to this role due to her deep passion for justice within the criminal justice system. Her career path and expertise make her well-suited for this important work.
👩🎓 Internships and Case Reviews
Monique discusses the involvement of interns from Florida A&M University College of Law, who assist the Conviction Integrity Unit in reviewing wrongful conviction cases. She explains that the unit has received 55 applications for review since its inception in 2018. Additionally, they are committed to reviewing approximately 2,500 fingerprint cases tied to issues with a fingerprint analyst at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, ensuring all cases maintain integrity and justice.
📞 Reach Out to Help the Wrongfully Convicted
The closing section encourages viewers to contact the Conviction Integrity Unit if they know someone who may have been wrongfully convicted. The segment underscores the importance of reaching out for help in cases where justice may have failed, and encourages the use of the resources provided by the unit.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Conviction Integrity Unit
💡Wrongful conviction
💡Exoneration
💡DNA evidence
💡Criminal justice system
💡Application for review
💡Florida A&M University College of Law
💡Fingerprint review
💡Criminal defense attorney
💡Injustice
Highlights
The Conviction Integrity Unit investigates claims of wrongful conviction to determine if an individual was wrongfully convicted.
There are over 40 Conviction Integrity Units across the country, and Florida introduced three of them in 2018.
The Ninth Judicial Circuit for Orange and Osceola County is one of the Florida districts with a Conviction Integrity Unit.
The program is crucial in ensuring that innocent people are not wrongly convicted, which is equally as important as catching actual criminals.
DNA evidence has played a significant role in overturning wrongful convictions, but it is not always available for every case.
Applications for review by the Conviction Integrity Unit are available online or can be collected from their office.
Applicants can apply on behalf of someone or fill out the application themselves if they believe they were wrongfully convicted.
The speaker, Monique Cotton Wha, has 20 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney and was a professor at the University of Florida.
Monique Cotton Wha became involved with the Conviction Integrity Unit due to her passion for justice and her expertise in criminal law.
The Conviction Integrity Unit partners with interns from the Florida A&M University College of Law to assist with case reviews.
Since its inception in 2018, the Conviction Integrity Unit has received 55 applications for case review.
The Unit is also handling 2,500 fingerprint review cases due to issues with the quality of work from an Orange County Sheriff's Department fingerprint analyst.
Each case involving the fingerprint analyst is being reviewed to ensure the conviction's integrity is upheld.
The process of reviewing these cases aims to prevent wrongful convictions caused by faulty evidence or poor analysis.
Individuals who know someone wrongfully convicted are encouraged to reach out to the Conviction Integrity Unit for support.
Transcripts
[Music]
you may have heard of a case where the
person was released from prison after
serving decades because they were
cleared by new DNA evidence
well the ninth Judicial State Attorney's
Office has a program called the
conviction Integrity Unit to get to
invest investigate possible cases of
wrongful convictions Monique cotton wha
rel is here to tell us more thank you
for joining us Monique thank you for
having me tell us about the conviction
integrity program short so conviction
integrity is something that is not new
around the country there are over 40
conviction Integrity units across the
country however it is something that's
new to Florida there were three
conviction Integrity units created in
Florida in 2018 and the ninth Judicial
Circuit for Orange and Osceola County is
one of them our unit essentially
investigates claims of wrongful
conviction to see if someone was in fact
wrongfully convicted of the crime that
they are serving time for and we
investigate that claim and push for
exoneration if they were in fact
wrongfully convicted and can you share
some cases of wrongful convictions that
have come into your office well I can't
talk about any specific cases that we
are currently investigating as we have
not had a exoneration up until this
point however as you mentioned in the
opening there are cases on the news on
an almost daily basis unfortunately
about individuals who were convicted of
crimes and then it was later found that
they were not actually the individual
who committed that crime DNA evidence
has assisted a lot in finding
individuals who were wrongfully
convicted
but unfortunately DNA evidence is the
the only way that you know sometimes
there are wrongful convictions that
cannot be proven through DNA evidence
and why is a program like this important
particularly in Florida a program like
this is important because the criminal
justice system should not be convicting
the wrong person it is an injustice for
someone who is innocent to be sitting in
prison
just as it is important for us to catch
the individuals who have actually
committed crimes it's equally important
for us to ensure that innocent people
are not becoming victims of the criminal
justice system and what is the process
for approaching the office so in our
office applications for conviction
Integrity review are available online
and our website people can also come by
the office pick up applications at our
front desk they can contact our office
and have applications mailed out to them
so applications can be filled out on
behalf of someone or the individual can
fill out an application on behalf of
themselves okay so um another question I
have this is really interesting how did
you come to be involved in this
particular area of the law so I have
been a criminal defense attorney for
twenty years I was a professor at the
University of Florida for 16 years where
I was also the director of the criminal
justice center there when I learned of
this opportunity and I researched what
conviction Integrity actually is it was
the perfect job for me I believe that I
would be well-suited based on my
background and my passion for justice
within the criminal justice system is
your office currently looking for
volunteers so we currently have a
program where we have interns from the
Florida A&M University College of Law
and the students from them work with us
directly and they assist in the review
of cases of wrongful conviction very
interesting and how many do you have an
idea as to how many cases you might be
able to take on or new clients in a
given year so the applications that we
receive are not our clients we still
represent the state of Florida we
currently have received 55 applications
for review since our opening in
September of 2018 in addition to that
though we have a about 2,500 fingerprint
review cases that we have based on a
fingerprint analyst from the Orange
County Sheriff's Department that was
released for issues regarding the
quality of their work and we have
committed to reviewing each and every
one of the cases where that analyst was
listed as a witness in that case to
ensure that the convictions there have
integrity thank you so much for joining
us and sharing information about the
conviction Integrity Unit absolutely
thank you so much for having me yes if
you know someone who may have been
wrongfully convicted you may consider
reaching out to the conviction Integrity
Unit
[Music]
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