Conviction Rate Quotes

Yeah, I lost court cases and misdemeanor juries, but of felony jury trials I was successful 105 of 106 times.

In reality, those rare few cases with good forensic evidence are the ones that make it to court.

Prosecutors frequently overcharge, load up charges on individual defendants, knowing that three strikes laws and harsh mandatory minimum sentences will force people to plea bargain and essentially convict themselves because they're terrified of doing a life sentence for a relatively minor crime.

It seems that in Baltimore, one of the most violent cities in America, jurors are far more reluctant to convict criminal defendants than in the suburban enclaves that ring the city.

Black jurors sit on juries every day and convict black people every day.

I gathered, in the investigation I made as Chairman of the Committee of the American Law Institute, statistics from a majority of the States and I have carefully examined those gathered by other committees and commissions, and it is my judgment that of those committing major crimes … not one out of every ten is apprehended and adequately punished … that our system of apprehending and prosecuting those who commit major crimes is only from 10 per cent to 15 per cent efficient; that as to those apprehended and indicted for major offenses, it is only from 25 per cent to 30 per cent efficient … and that as to those actually tried for major offenses, it is not over 50 per cent efficient.

America today is becoming a Prosecutocracy. Prosecutors have the power when over 97 percent of the convictions are without trial.

Field offices are evaluated in part based on their success in following through on leads and making cases that result in arrests and convictions. No case agent worth their salt would remain quiet if their cases were closed in the face of a continuing threat.

The arrival of DNA testing has brought new dimensions to the investigation of crime. It has brought resolution to old cases where past investigators were unable to uncover the truth. It has brought justice in new cases where once the truth might never have been known.

I lost court cases and misdemeanor juries, but of felony jury trials I was successful 105 of 106 times.