On today's Your Call, we'll talk about how innocent people end up behind bars. Ronald Ross, a West Oakland resident who was wrongly convicted of a shooting in 2006, was recently released after spending seven years in prison. His team of volunteer lawyers argued that his conviction was the result of shoddy police work and witnesses who lied. How frequently are people like Ronald Ross falsely imprisoned? What leads to these failures? And what can be done about it? Join us at 10am Pacific Time or post a comment here. It's Your Call, with Holly Kernan and You.
Guests:
Cookie Ridolfi, executive director of the Northern California Innocence Project and law professor at Santa Clara University
Norm Stamper, former Seattle police chief and author of “Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Exposé of the Dark Side of American Policing”
Gary Wells, psychology professor at Iowa State University and eyewitness identification expert
Resources:
Amazon: Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Exposé of the Dark Side of American Policing
NY Times: Why Police Lie Under Oath
SF Gate: Why cops lie
SF Gate: Innocent man is freed after 7 years
The Oakland Tribune: Judge overturns Oakland man's conviction of raping 9-year-old girl in 1998
East Bay Express: Getting Away with Murder
East Bay Express: OPD Sued for Targeting Innocent Man
Common Dreams: American Travesty
ABC News: Police lineups need overhaul, study says
