Perception of Community towards wrongful Conviction in Nueva Ecija

Mary Chris Austria-Cruz

doi:10.22161/jhed.2.1.2

Abstract

Many known cases of wrongful conviction arose from a burden on law enforcement officials to settle the case either because it is high-profile, or due to financial or other systemic considerations. The study described the perception of the community towards the causes of wrongful conviction and effects of wrongful conviction to the community. This study used the descriptive method. A total of 100 respondents composed of different professionals were surveyed in the study. The researcher used likert-scale responses on the distributed questionnaire and analyze the data through frequency count and percentage. From the data gathered, the researcher concluded that the main reason of wrongful conviction is poverty as perceived by the community garnered the highest frequency count and percentage of being strongly agreed. Further, greater fear topped the effects of the wrongful conviction as perceived by the community garnered the highest frequency count and percentage of being strongly agreed. In the foregoing conclusions, the researcher derived that wrongful conviction has a cognitive and emotional impact to the community’s perception. It is recommended that possible attitudes of citizens in wrongful conviction should be conducted in an oral interview instead of survey for more specific and defined answer

Highlights

Many known cases of wrongful conviction arose from a burden on law enforcement officials to settle the case either because it is high-profile, or due to financial or other systemic considerations. Risinger (2006) stated that criminal justice system seldom convicts those who are innocent and those who believe that such miscarriages are rife.Further, Garoupa and Rizzoli (2012) explained that wrong acquittals increase the expected pay-offs of committing crime, but wrongful convictions, on the other hand, reduce the expected payoffs of being real.Leo and Gould (2009) concluded that wrongful convictions cry out for change and mitigation as there is no greater systematic mistake in the criminal justice systemwhich is triggered by the criminal justice system itself-than a factually innocent person's wrongdoing
From the data gathered, the researcher concluded that the main reason of wrongful conviction is poverty as perceived by the community garnered the highest frequency count and percentage of being strongly agreed
Public trial garnered the highest frequency count and percentage of being strongly disagreed that implies community perceived it as the least cause of the wrongful conviction

Summary

Introduction

Many known cases of wrongful conviction arose from a burden on law enforcement officials to settle the case either because it is high-profile, or due to financial or other systemic considerations. Risinger (2006) stated that criminal justice system seldom convicts those who are innocent and those who believe that such miscarriages are rife.Further, Garoupa and Rizzoli (2012) explained that wrong acquittals increase the expected pay-offs of committing crime, but wrongful convictions, on the other hand, reduce the expected payoffs of being real.Leo and Gould (2009) concluded that wrongful convictions cry out for change and mitigation as there is no greater systematic mistake in the criminal justice systemwhich is triggered by the criminal justice system itself-than a factually innocent person's wrongdoing. Many known cases of wrongful conviction arose from a burden on law enforcement officials to settle the case either because it is high-profile, or due to financial or other systemic considerations. Risinger (2006) stated that criminal justice system seldom convicts those who are innocent and those who believe that such miscarriages are rife. Leo and Gould (2009) concluded that wrongful convictions cry out for change and mitigation as there is no greater systematic mistake in the criminal justice systemwhich is triggered by the criminal justice system itself-than a factually innocent person's wrongdoing. Huff and Killias (2012) recommended that the frequency of wrongful conviction can be reduced by improving understanding of the structural, organizational, and human causes of error in our justice systems The opportunity as Findley (2001) concluded is a significant one - for the wrongly convicted or charged, for the victims who are entitled to know the truth about their offenders, and for community safety.

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Conclusion