17.30 - C. Actual Innocence

• Jurisdiction: New York

C. Actual Innocence

Should a defendant convicted of a capital offense and sentenced to death, who was not deprived of any constitutional right at trial be executed, when the defendant was actually innocent? Should any defendant who suffered no other violation of a constitutional right and received a fair trial remain incarcerated when the defendant is actually innocent? Morally we would all answer these questions in the negative. Yet in the legal realm, the answers are unclear. The Supreme Court has not

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