For centuries criminals had been able to escape the justice system due to lack of evidence at a crime scene. Modern technology has changed the playing field and detectives can now use DNA evidence to link criminals to their victims. This has also led to arrests in previously unsolved cases where DNA samples had been collected but not yet tested. This new technology has undoubtedly changed the justice system but it may not all be for the better. Many people sit on death row awaiting execution for crimes they have been convicted of by a jury of their peers. However, while they wait, many convicted felons have been exonerated of their crime due to mistakes or inaccurate testing. How can the United States allow the sanctioned killings when the murderers or rapists may be innocent citizens praying for the truth to be found?

At the heart of many cases is the quality of DNA evidence or the technology used to test the evidence. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the building block for the human body; virtually every cell contains DNA ("Understanding DNA"). Detectives and crime scene investigators now look for DNA evidence when a crime is committed. This type of evidence can be found in many areas because the same DNA can be found in a person’s bone, hair, saliva and blood ("Understanding DNA"). The following chart indicates the possible locations of DNA evidence and the source:

Chart courtesy of http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/dna_evbro/9.html

"DNA is a powerful investigative tool because, with the exception of identical twins, no two people have the same DNA. Therefore, DNA evidence collected from a crime scene can be linked to a suspect or can eliminate a suspect from suspicion" ("Understanding DNA"). The DNA Identification Act of 1994 formalized the FBI’s authority to establish a national DNA index for law enforcement purposes. The FBI’s laboratory’s Combined DNA Index System ("CODIS Brochure") allows DNA samples to be entered into a database allowing local or national searches of DNA samples ("CODIS Brochure"). If no suspect exists in an unsolved crime, "a DNA profile from crime scene evidence can be entered into the FBI's ("CODIS Brochure") to identify a suspect anywhere in the United States or to link serial crimes to each other "("Understanding DNA"). There have been many successful stories of police using the CODIS network to solve crimes. In February, 2000, police in Iowa found an unidentified woman’s body by an interstate off-ramp. They took evidence and created a DNA profile that was entered in CODIS. A match was found and the crime was linked to a man already in a Florida prison for sexual assault ("Success Stories"). Formerly unsolved "cold cases" from even decades ago have been solved through DNA testing. In May, 2000, an arrest was made for the 23 year old kidnapping and murder case of a six year old girl in Nevada. Evidence had been collected from clothing and remains found and entered into the FBI database. The profile matched the DNA of Stephen Robert Smith who was arrested for the crime ("Success Stories"). Serial crimes have also been solved by linking DNA profiles from different cases to one criminal. In Missouri, two young girls had been abducted and raped at opposite ends of the city. The police could not find a suspect. Four years later, in January, 2000, the DNA samples were retested and entered into CODIS. A match was found with a suspect involved in at least two other rape cases. Dominic Moore was identified as the rapist from the matches found from CODIS ("Success Stories"). These stories solidify DNA’s role in modern investigation techniques.

Facts about the death penalty:

• As of December 31, 1999, the death penalty was authorized by 38 states and the Federal Government.
• Texas leads nation in the number of executions since death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
• Texas, California, and Florida have the largest death row populations.
• 3,581 offenders were under sentence of death in the United States as of December 31, 2001.
• There are five methods of execution in the United States: lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, hanging, and firing squad.
• Jurisdictions without death penalty statutes: Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
• Average time on death row prior to execution: 10.43 years

("Death Row Facts")

"Over half of the increase in State prison population since 1995 is due to an increase in the prisoners convicted of violent offenses. Violent offenses include murder, negligent and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, extortion, intimidation, criminal endangerment, and other violent offenses" (Bureau of Justice Statistics).

The number of prisoners on death row has decreased for the second consecutive year in 2002 but the trend is increasingly higher numbers (Bureau of Justice Statistics).

Opponents of the death penalty point to numerous cases that they claim indicate innocent people have been killed. Earl Washington was released from Virginia corrections after staying in jail for 18 years. During the end of his stay, he was on death row and came within nine days of his set execution date. Washington claims he could hear the electric chair humming as the guards tested it every day. Earl Washington is a mildly retarded man that confessed to a crime he did not commit. He got into a fight with his brother and assaulted a neighbor to steal her gun to shoot his brother. He did shoot his brother in the foot and when the police came to investigate, he confessed to the shooting and the robbery. They pressured him into also confessing to three rape cases and the rape and murder of Rebecca Williams. The rape cases were dropped because the victims came in and told the police Earl had not raped them. However, there were no witnesses alive to disprove Earl's claim that he had murdered Rebecca Williams and he was charged with capital murder (Brooks).

Earl Washington was convicted by a mostly white jury in 50 minutes and ninety minutes later he was sentenced to death. His appeal was denied by the Virginia Supreme Court and the court set his execution date. In Virginia, poor people must represent themselves in appeal cases but Washington had an IQ of only 69 and could not manage to understand the law on his own. The NAACP filed a civil rights suit stating that death row inmates should have appeals with free legal advice and a stay was granted to Washington nine days before his execution date. A new defense lawyer, Robert Hall, took the case and learned that Washington had confessed to killing a short black woman by stabbing her once or twice when the victim was really tall, white and had been stabbed multiple times. The major evidence from the forensic reports was the DNA tests. The markers that matched the rapist did not belong to Earl Washington. The DNA testing methods used at the time of Washington's trial were old and new tests proved that Washington did not have a link to the murder. The governor at the time was concerned that Washington had confessed to the crime and only offered life in prison. Washington waited another seven years before another DNA test, with modern DNA testing technology, finally cleared him of the crime. Governor Jim Gilmore granted him a full pardon. In a twist, the test the finally cleared Washington of the crime linked another man to the murder who was free at the time. This would be an opportunity to catch the murderer and prove DNA testing works but the investigation is still open. Peter Neufeld of the Innocence Project at the Cardozo School of Law claims the charges have not been filed "Because to do so would require a public admission that Earl Washington was completely innocent, and that an innocent man was almost put to death." ("Fatal Flaws")

Washington's case demonstrates to opponents of the death penalty how the system can fail and execute the wrong man for a crime he did not commit. The test that linked Washington to the crime had actually matched another man's DNA to the victim. Although Washington spent many years in jail, he was fortunate enough to have repeated DNA testing done to prove he was not the murderer. Opponents point out that there are many people on death row that do not have DNA to test with today's technology to prove that they are innocent as they claim. ("Fatal Flaws")

Another case in Virginia is under debate at the Virginia Supreme Court to consider testing a DNA sample taken from a murder victim to prove the innocence of a man sentenced to death for murdering a neighbor woman. Roger Keith Coleman was charged with the rape and murder of his sister-in-law, Wanda McCoy, although he claimed he was innocent. Coleman had an alibi as a friend was with him at his house during the time of the murder. Inconclusive blood and hair tests suggested Coleman had been at the house during the murder but could not be proven. Coleman was represented by two new attorneys that had no previous capitol case experience. Teresa Horn, a neighbor of McCoy’s, went public years after Coleman’s sentence claiming another man admitted to the murder. The next day she died of a drug overdose which some people claim was an attempt to silence her ("Roger Coleman").

Coleman’s legal team failed to file the appropriate paperwork by one day to appeal the case. His legal time fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court but eventually lost and Coleman was executed. Now the only evidence that can prove his guilt or clear his name is sitting in a cooler waiting for the Virginia Supreme Court to determine if more testing should be done. "After Coleman was convicted, DNA analysis available at the time placed him in about 2 percent of the population that could have committed the crime. Dr. Blake (a well respected forensic scientist) says, if Virginia officials would let him test it again with today's technology, he could answer the question definitively. But Blake says, "Every effort was made by the Virginia Attorney General to stop that process." Proponents of the death penalty would like to see the conclusive evidence finally link Coleman to the murder but fear if he was innocent it would give opponents a case that showed an innocent man was executed. Opponents claim that the tests should be done to clear Coleman’s name. They also point out that the general public has a right to know if the system is working properly ("Roger Coleman").

The death penalty is considered the ultimate deterrent against violent crimes. People that may consider committing a violent crime such as rape or murder would know that they will be sentenced to death if convicted. "University study by Professor Joanna Shepherd concluded: "If criminals prefer lengthy death row waits to short ones, as their numerous appeals and requests for stays suggest, then shortening the time until execution could increase the death penalty’s deterrent impact…I find that shorter waits on death row increase deterrence. Specifically, one extra murder is deterred for every 2.75-years reduction in the death row wait before each execution" (Nevin). Proponents of the death penalty point to these numbers and infer that quick and deliberate executions of death row inmates will prevent future attacks on innocent civilians. Opponents have their own set of numbers to look at and find that "only a small proportion of first-degree murderers are sentenced to death, and even fewer are executed. Although death sentences since 1980 have increased in number to about 250 per year, this is still only 1 per cent of all homicides known to the police. Of all those convicted on a charge of criminal homicide, only 2 percent - about 1 in 50 - are eventually sentenced to death. The possibility of increasing the number of convicted murderers sentenced to death and executed by enacting mandatory death penalty laws was ruled unconstitutional in 1976 (Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280) (Bedeau). The impact of carrying out the ultimate capitol punishment is lessened by each day, month and year the inmates can draw out the appeal process. However, how could the legal system set a limit of the amount of time spent on appeals when innocent people are freed after decades in prison. The deterrence from the death penalty to commit a crime is directly linked to the fear of executing an innocent person.

The U.S. corrections system is overloaded with criminals causing overcrowded jails and early paroles. Statistics show violent crime convictions are rising and the number of inmates on death row is also climbing. As people move through the system, there are many opportunities for error and false conviction. Opponents of the death penalty point out numerous cases of innocent people who were almost executed. They claim the system is flawed and therefore the death penalty can not be instated. Proponents of the death penalty claim that no innocent person has ever been executed and the opponents are purposefully finding false evidence of innocence. They claim that the death penalty will deter future criminals from committing violent crimes and feel executions should be exacted swiftly.

DNA tests will undoubtedly be the proving ground for the death penalty. If DNA tests prove that many innocent people are on death row, the death penalty may be stopped because the system can’t be trusted. However, if DNA testing can become irrefutable and convict without any doubt, the death penalty could finally be used without fear of executing the innocent. Although no one can prove an innocent person has been executed doesn’t mean it has not or could happen. Opponents of the death penalty should continue their fight to clear innocent names until DNA testing is concrete enough to sentence criminals to death without hesitation.