Florida needs new rules to stop wrongful convictions

Whether it’s a split-second look from a stranger, or a computer’s best guess, either can be enough to send a completely innocent person to prison. This October 2nd will mark the 13th annual Wrongful Conviction Day, an observance started by the Innocence Network to bring attention to those suffering behind bars for crimes they did not commit, and the impact of such an injustice on them and their loved ones.

During the 2027 session, Florida’s Legislature can stop wrongful convictions before they happen, rather than after innocent people have spent years, or even decades, incarcerated.

A leading cause of wrongful conviction is misidentification by eyewitnesses. Involved in 41% of exonerations in Florida – well above the national rate of 27% – it can no longer be ignored by legislators. One of my former clients, Dustin Duty, was affected personally. Walking home from his second day at a new job, he was picked up by a deputy from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office who believed he matched the description of a robbery suspect, despite having an entirely different outfit besides the similar colored shorts. Law enforcement forced Duty to put on a white shirt (like the suspect had on) and put him in a show-up where an eyewitness identified him after suggestive comments were made. Duty spent eight years incarcerated before his exoneration and he is far from the only one.

Alongside advancements in technology, these risks are taking new forms. Florida has the second-highest rate in the nation of wrongful arrests due to unreliable facial recognition matches. As police departments increasingly rely upon AI-powered tools and the data centers needed to power them, old problems are remerging in new forms. The same flawed identification practices are now coming from computers rather than people but are still resulting in the same wrongful convictions.

Reform is possible this upcoming legislative session. By modernizing how identification procedures are conducted, we can greatly reduce the number of misidentifications. Decades of research, with widespread support from groups ranging from the International Association of Chiefs of Police to the National Academy of Sciences, have outlined clear best practices that Florida is still yet to adopt. These standards should be updated to include guardrails for the use of facial recognition technology, so faulty machine-generated leads don’t lead to more unjust identifications. More than 31 states have implemented these kinds of evidence-based protections, which not only protect the innocent but ensure law enforcement’s investigation isn’t diverted from the true culprit.

Wrongful Conviction Day should remind us that much work remains to protect Floridians from prison for crimes they didn’t commit. While we were honored to work with Duty to secure his exoneration and see him walk free nearly five years ago on October 27, 2021, we are deeply saddened by his passing earlier this year following a medical emergency.

For so many exonerees, freedom alone cannot erase years of trauma and loss. We cannot continue to address the harm done after the fact; we must stop the harm from happening in the first place.

Seth Miller is executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida. He can be reached via email at [email protected].