Most people have an understanding that, at least occasionally, innocent people do end up in prison. We know this because we’ve seen many people get exonerated, ultimately winning their freedom even after years of incarceration. Logic would tell us that there are even more innocent people who remain in prison, unable to provide the exculpatory evidence or legal arguments necessary to free themselves. And according to some estimates, the number of innocent people in prison is far steeper than the average person would imagine.
But why is this the case? Why do innocent people end up in prison?
The Fundamental Problem: Bad Legal Advice
The first thing you should do after being arrested, or after learning you’re under suspicion of committing a crime, is hire a criminal defense lawyer. Criminal law is extremely complicated. The processes for arresting people, gathering evidence, and going to trial are difficult for the average person to understand. And the police can and will use a variety of tricks to get you to confess to something, even if you’re not the one who did it.
Lawyers exist to help you navigate this process and make sense of these complicated processes and ideas. Lawyers may not be perfect, but they can provide you with excellent advice that can help you improve your position under such arduous circumstances.
There are many ways that innocent people can land in jail, but most of them have something to do with insufficient or bad legal advice. If you don’t have a lawyer, you might easily be tricked into signing a confession for a crime you didn’t do. If you have a lawyer who isn’t representing you adequately, they may neglect to point out procedural errors that could exonerate you.
Why Innocent People End Up in Prison
Digging deeper, these are some of the most common reasons why innocent people end up in prison:
- Talking to the police. Even if you’re innocent, talking to the police is a bad idea. You’re under no obligation to answer their questions, and as the Miranda warning suggests, anything you say can and will be used against you in court. You may not explicitly confess to the crime in question, but you may accidentally confess to another crime, or you may accidentally say something untrue, leading the police to believe you’re lying. In any case, talking to the police generally stands to hurt you more than help you.
- False confessions. False confessions are much more common than most people imagine. Innocent people don’t go out of their way to confess to crimes they didn’t do, but they can often be bullied or manipulated into signing a piece of paper if it means moving forward with an unpleasant process. Many people who sign false confessions only do so after many hours of intense interrogation.
- False accusations. False accusations are also problematic. Innocent people can sometimes land in prison because they were accused of something they didn’t do by an alleged victim. Without an ample body of exculpatory evidence or a suitable defense, this can sometimes land people in jail.
- Witness problems. Similarly, witness problems can put innocent people in prison. Eyewitness testimony, although commonly presented in court, is notoriously unreliable. It’s very easy to identify the wrong party as the culprit of a crime you witnessed.
- Official misconduct. Innocent people go to prison sometimes because of official misconduct. Police officers, judges, and even lawyers can abuse their power and weaponize the system against innocent people in many ways.
- Forensic issues. We like to imagine that forensic science is perfect, but evidence is often flawed, and forensic processes can lead to untrue conclusions.
How to Stay Out of Prison as an Innocent Person
So how do you stay out of prison as an innocent person?
- Be mindful of who you associate with and what you do. Obviously, you shouldn’t commit crimes. But you should also be wary of people who do. Don’t hang around people who are consistently in legal trouble, and you’ll probably be embroiled in fewer legal issues.
- Keep records when possible. You don’t need to go crazy, but you should consider keeping at least some consistent records related to your whereabouts and habits. If you always have an alibi for where you were and what you were doing, false accusations and witness statements won’t hold.
- Stay silent. In the United States, you have a right to silence, and you should always take advantage of that right. Aside from revealing some personally identifying information, you aren’t required to answer any police questions.
- Hire a good lawyer and follow their advice. As early as possible in the process, hire a good criminal defense lawyer and trust their advice. They have your best interests at heart and will do everything possible to keep you out of prison.
- Do not confess to anything. Finally, don’t confess to anything you didn’t do. This may seem obvious and easy, but it’s much harder to follow this advice when you’ve been brutally interrogated for hours and lied to by the police.
It’s not a pleasant or comfortable fact about our legal system, but innocent people can and do land in prison. It’s important to be aware of this, and protect yourself against it if you want to stay out of jail, especially if you’re suspected of committing a crime.