“We the jury find the defendant guilty!” It’s a line you may have heard before as a dramatic case closing in a TV show or movie — but you probably haven’t heard it in real life, even if you or someone close to you has been charged with a crime.
A vast majority of guilty verdicts in criminal cases — approximately 95 percent of all state and federal convictions — result from guilty pleas. While many are guilty, research of the Innocence Project shows that a significant amount are not, which raises the question: Why don’t more people go forward with a trial in order to prove their innocence?