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Three bills aimed at preventing wrongful convictions recently cleared California’s Assembly Public Safety Committee, but there’s no guarantee the measures will meet the governor’s standards.

Each of the three bills addresses a leading cause of wrongful convictions and is based on recommendations made by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice—created in 2004 to study criminal justice problems that lead to the imprisonment of innocent people.

The Measures

The first of the three measures would require that interrogations involving violent crime suspects be electronically recorded. Commission chairman John Van de Kamp said that electronic recordings would help bring an end to coerced confessions and false accusations against police.

Another measure would mandate that testimony of jailhouse informants be corroborated by evidence, since informants sometimes lie to obtain reduced sentences.

The third bill requests new guidelines for eyewitness lineups to be created by the state attorney general and other main figures in the criminal justice system.

Possible Veto?

Last year, both houses passed similar bills that were eventually vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even though the new measures have addressed concerns expressed by the governor, opposition from law enforcement may lead to another veto.

Despite opposition, the bill has its supporters. Arthur Carmona, an Orange County man who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned on charges of armed-robbery at the age of 16, testified before the committee. He spent two and a half years in prison based on mistaken eyewitness identification.

“I support the bills that you are being asked to vote on today. Prison is no place for an innocent person, let alone an innocent kid,” he said.

(Source: Los Angeles Times online)

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