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35 New Eng. L. Rev. 639 (2000-2001)
Legal and Ethical Implications of Post-Conviction DNA Exonerations

handle is hein.journals/newlr35 and id is 649 raw text is: Legal and Ethical Implications of Post-Conviction DNA Exonerations Peter Neufeld* Witnesses to crimes inject their own subjectivity and speculation about what really happened in a particular case and suppositions are floated eve- rywhere. What we have been trying to do, with the advent of forensic DNA testing, is replace that kind of speculation, supposition, and subjec- tivity with hard science. This is the kind of revolution, I think, that has been spawned over the last two years since we have had this unprece- dented wave of DNA exonerations. Take the case of Chris Ochoa and Richard Danziger,' two men in Texas who were convicted of a serious crime more than a decade ago. One day, the manager of an Austin, Texas Pizza Hut was working alone in the back of the closed restaurant, when one or more persons, entered the back room, raped, robbed, and murdered her. A few days later, while the police detectives were investigating, some of the employees who were present noticed two men, Ochoa, twenty-one, and his younger roommate, Danzinger, both of whom worked at another Pizza Hut, standing by the perimeter of the crime scene. An employee told the detectives he had sus- picions concerning the two men being present at the scene. One detective found this observation most significant and sought out Chris Ochoa. Al- though the detective had a history of overreaching, he was nevertheless undeterred. The interrogation went on for hours. The detective showed Ochoa photographs of the death house and explained to him what a lethal * Peter Neufeld co-founded and directs The Innocence Project, which currently represents more than two hundred inmates seeking post-conviction release through DNA testing. In its nine years of existence, The Innocence Project has been responsible in whole or in part for exonerating more than fifty clients. Some of Mr. Neufeld's pub- lications include: P.J. Neufeld & B.C. Scheck, Forward to DNA Exculpatory Cases Study Report, National Institute of Justice, 1996; BARRY SCHECK, PETER NEUFELD, & JIM DWYER, ACTUAL INNOCENCE: FIVE DAYS TO EXECUTION, AND OTHER DISPATCHES FROM THE WRONGLY CONVICTED (2000); BARRY SCHECK & PETER NEUFELD, DNA AND INNOCENCE SCHOLARSHIP WRONGLY CONVICTED: WHEN JUSTICE FAILS (2000); and P. Neufeld and N. Colman, When Science Takes the Witness Stand, 262 Sc1. AM. 5, (May, 1990). I. State v. Danziger, District Court of Travis County, 299th Judicial District, No. 94,518, Honorable Jon N. Wisser, Judge (1989); see also Alan Berlow, Texas Justice (visited Mar. 30, 2001) <http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/10/31/ ochoa/print.html>. 639

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