Due Process

Facts:

1. Only 5% of criminal cases have biological evidence
2. Eyewitness testimonies are oftentimes unreliable
3. Texas is the nations leader in executions
4. Although he was wrongfully accused Quincy Spruell served 24 years in prison
5. Kevin  Rojas was convicted and charged in 1991
6. If a person is sentenced to death, they can wait up to 25 years before being executed
7. There are 55 innocence projects in the United States.
8. Jim McCloskey has freed 44 innocent people in the last 30 years
9. Cases are often worked on for 10-15 years
10. One estimate on the amount of innocent people was about 2 or 3% of those in prisons.

Questions:

1. Why might an eyewitness be deemed unreliable?
2. With such a high level of court systems, how can someone be wrongfully accused?
3. Why does it take so long for someone to be executed after a sentence?
4. Why do court cases take so long?
5. What determines a persons sentence?