Like many other states, Massachusetts has recently known a number of acknowledged miscarriages of justice. This article examines one of them, the Marvin Mitchell case, in order to ask two questions: “What went wrong?” and “What systemic reforms might have prevented this injustice?” In seeking ideas for reform, we look to English law.

In 1990 Marvin Mitchell was convicted of rape in Massachusetts. Seven years later he became the first Massachusetts prisoner to be exonerated by DNA testing. In this article we describe the two key factors leading to Mitchell’s wrongful conviction: faulty eyewitness identification procedures, and inadequate safeguards surrounding the recording and disclosure of Mitchell’s allegedly incriminating statements to the police. We then ask how English prosecutors and courts would have responded to a police investigation conducted in the same way as Massachusetts police handled Mitchell’s case. After describing the English safeguards applicable to eyewitness identification procedures and to the taking of suspects’ statements to the police, we conclude that the investigatory flaws in Mitchell’s case would have led to a radically different result in England: it is unlikely that Mitchell would even have been prosecuted, let alone convicted, for the crime with which he was charged.

In view of the fact that a number of Massachusetts miscarriages of justice have resulted from unreliable eyewitness identification procedures, and from eleventh-hour revelations of previously undisclosed incriminating statements by defendants, we argue that Massachusetts should consider adopting stronger safeguards to protect the innocent from police error or abuse. In doing so, the state should look to English experience for plausible models.

*Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law, J.D., Yale University

** Principal Lecturer, Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, England. Ph.D. (Psychology and Criminal Justice), University of Bath, England. Chartered Forensic and Occupational Psychologist, British Psychological Society; Former Senior Officer, Metropolitan Police, London.

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Stanley Z. Fisher Contact Information

Email: szf@bu.edu
Boston University School of Law
765 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215
USA
(617) 353-3124

Ian K. McKenzie Contact Information
Email: ian.mckenzie@mandala-associates.com
Ian K. McKenzie, Phd
Independent Forensic Psychologist
Mandala Associates
PO Box 119
EX8 4WZ
England

SSRN Site:

http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=520202

Presentation and Publication Information:

This article will appear in the Boston University Public Interest Law Journal.

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