Thompson to Examine Wrongful Convictions

Texas law school deans have chosen Criminal Law Prof. Sandra Guerra Thompson of the Law Center  to serve on a state advisory panel to determine why innocent men and women are sometimes wrongfully convicted and find ways to prevent these miscarriages of justice.  The 10-member Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions was created by the Texas Legislature in May and charged with preparing a report on its findings by January 2011.

Thompson said she is honored by the appointment and is ready to start work on a very important issue.
“When the wrong person is convicted, an innocent person suffers and society remains at risk because the guilty person remains at large,” she said.  “It is such an important issue, and one that deserves serious attention by state legislatures.

“I’ve spent the better part of the last few years writing about eyewitness identification evidence, which is the most frequent cause of wrongful convictions.  As a law professor, it will be exciting to put my knowledge to use and, with any luck, bring about some important procedural improvements.” 

The Timothy Cole panel was named after a Texas Tech student who was wrongfully convicted of raping a fellow student in 1985, primarily on the testimony of the victim. Another man confessed to the crime in 1995, but Cole was still in prison when he died during an asthma attack in 1999 at the age of 39.