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In 1989, Carlos DeLuna, a poor Hispanic man with childlike intelligence, was executed in Texas for the murder of Wanda Lopez, a convenience store clerk. His execution passed unnoticed for years until a team of Columbia Law School faculty and students almost accidentally chose to investigate his case and found that DeLuna almost certainly was innocent. The Wrong Carlos documents DeLuna's conviction, which was based on a single, nighttime, cross-ethnic eyewitness identification with no corroborating forensic evidence. At his trial, the prosecution branded DeLuna as a liar for fabricating Carlos Hernandez, the man he identified as the real killer. The evidence the Columbia team uncovered reveals that Hernandez not only existed but was well known to the police and prosecutors and had a long history of violent crimes, especially against women. This book and its Web site (thewrongcarlos.net) reproduce law-enforcement, crime lab, lawyer, court, social service, media, and witness records, as well as court transcripts, photographs, radio traffic, and audio and videotaped interviews, documenting one of the most comprehensive investigations into a criminal case in U.S. history. The principal investigators conclude with suggestions for improving accuracy among the police, prosecutors, forensic scientists, and judges.
List of contents
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsProloguePart I. The Death of Wanda Lopez1. Murder2. Manhunt3. Show-up4. Crime Scene5. SuspectPart II. The Lives of Carlos Hernandez6. Probation and Parole7. Acquittal8. Confession9. Mistaken IdentityPart III. The Prosecution of Carlos DeLuna10. Investigation11. Defense12. No Defense13. Trial14. SentencePart IV. The Passion of Carlos DeLuna15. Appeals16. ExecutionPart V. The Scars of Dina Ybanez17. RecidivismEpilogueAppendix. PeopleBibliographyIndex
About the author
James S. Liebman is Simon F. Rifkind Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and a nationally recognized expert on the death penalty. He is the coauthor of Federal Habeas Corpus Practice and Procedure, the most widely cited work on the subject in the United States, and A Modern Approach to Evidence: Text, Problems, Transcripts, and Cases. The Columbia DeLuna Project is a multiyear examination of the execution of Carlos DeLuna, conducted by James S. Liebman and five now-graduated Columbia Law students: Shawn Crowley, Andrew Marquart, Lauren Rosenberg, Lauren Gallo White, and Daniel Zharkovsky.
Summary
In 1989, Carlos DeLuna, a poor Hispanic man with childlike intelligence, was executed in Texas for the murder of Wanda Lopez, a convenience store clerk. His execution passed unnoticed for years until a team of Columbia Law School faculty and students almost accidentally chose to investigate his case and found that DeLuna almost certainly was innocent. The Wrong Carlos documents DeLuna's conviction, which was based on a single, nighttime, cross-ethnic eyewitness identification with no corroborating forensic evidence. At his trial, the prosecution branded DeLuna as a liar for fabricating Carlos Hernandez, the man he identified as the real killer. The evidence the Columbia team uncovered reveals that Hernandez not only existed but was well known to the police and prosecutors and had a long history of violent crimes, especially against women. This book and its Web site (thewrongcarlos.net) reproduce law-enforcement, crime lab, lawyer, court, social service, media, and witness records, as well as court transcripts, photographs, radio traffic, and audio and videotaped interviews, documenting one of the most comprehensive investigations into a criminal case in U.S. history. The principal investigators conclude with suggestions for improving accuracy among the police, prosecutors, forensic scientists, and judges.
