Identifying Violations of Due Process

The following situation is an actual case. Fortunately, it is not typical of our criminal justice system. Yet for such a situation to occur, even infrequently, confirms that there is a constant need to ensure that all rights that constitute due process are respected.

In 1980 in a small town, a sixteen-year old white girl disappeared while looking for a restroom at a high school. Two custodians later found her body hidden in the loft of the school auditorium. She had been raped and strangled. The community in which this crime occurred was one with a history of racial prejudice and conflict.

The custodians were Jones, a white man, and Smith, a black man. Both were questioned by the police and made to sign statements explaining where they had been and how they had found the body. They were taken to a hospital and were made to give samples of their saliva, blood, and hair. Then a police officer drove them back to school. As he dropped them off, he said, "One of you two is gonna hand for this." Then he turned to Smith and said, "Since you're the black, you're elected." One week later, Smith was arrested for raping and murdering the girl. He was tried and convicted by an all white jury from which qualified blacks had been excluded, and he was sentenced to death.

A writ of habeas corpus to the state supreme court was filed, and a hearing was held seven years later. The appeals court judge found that the arresting officer and district attorney suppressed evidence favorable to Smith. They had lied and created false testimony to have Smith charged and convicted.

At Smith's trial, the medical evidence that would have shown that Smith was innocent was "lost." The medical examiner "forgot" the results of the autopsy, "lost" his notes on his findings, and "lost" the samples he had taken from the victim's body.

A police officer threatened witnesses whose testimony supported Smith's innocence, then coached witnesses to lie in court. The officer also falsified the findings of the lie-detector test that supported Smith's innocence.

The sheriff defied the original trial court's order to release Smith on bail. The judge, rather than enforcing his order, changed it and denied bail. Smith's defense lawyer won two stays of execution, which saved his life while he waited for his case to be heard by the appeals court.

The judge who presided over the 1987 hearing stated in his findings that Smith "did not receive a fair trial, was denied the basic fundamental rights of due process of law, and did not commit the crime for which he now resides on death row."

At the end of the hearing the judge stated, "In thirty years this court has presided ...no case has presented a more shocking scenario of the effects of racial