A mistrial can occur when a person is convicted of a crime but later proven innocent, or when a guilty person is set free due to new evidence. Mistrials can happen in civil cases too. Mistakes of justice can occur due to tampered evidence, withheld evidence, biases, or torture. Compensation is available in some countries, but overturning a wrongful conviction is difficult. Examples of mistrial include Joan of Arc and Dr. Sam Sheppard. DNA evidence has helped exonerate many wrongfully convicted people.
A mistrial can be defined in many different ways. Most commonly, it refers to the conviction of a person, in a court of law, for a crime that has subsequently been proven innocent. A mistrial may also apply the reverse way, i.e. that of a guilty person being set free when there is overwhelming evidence, or subsequent evidence, that he or she was indeed guilty of the crime he or she was accused of. The phrase is not limited only to crimes against people or property, as it can also apply to civil cases where the punishment consists largely of financial compensation. In short, a mistrial is any situation in which an individual is in any way incarcerated, executed, or punished as a result of an error in the legal system.
Mistakes of justice are frighteningly common. Since the 1990s, when the science of identifying DNA evidence was refined to an acceptable level of reliability, many convicted murderers and rapists have been found innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. The use of DNA evidence has become a major issue for those who oppose the death penalty. In many cases, blood or fluid evidence that originally led to a guilty plea – before the creation of DNA science – can now be used to prove an individual’s innocence.
Errors of justice can occur for reasons other than tampered with evidence or miscarriages of justice. In some scenarios, police have extracted confessions from innocent parties or withheld critical evidence from defense attorneys. There have also been miscarriages of justice due to biases – preconceived opinions of guilt – due to race, color, lifestyle or even appearance. In totalitarian countries, numerous people have been convicted in show trials, with guilty confessions resulting from the use of torture. In the latter case, “conviction” is often used as a tool to imprison or kill political dissidents.
Those who are victims of a mistrial can face decades in prison or even be executed. Some countries, notably the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, provide compensation to those who have been improperly imprisoned. Such payments, pardons, or acquittals are of little comfort to those who have spent many years behind bars, and of even less value to those who are acquitted posthumously. The United States pays compensation to wrongfully convicted people on a case-by-case basis. Overturning a wrongful conviction is extremely difficult, as courts and judges usually show a marked tendency to avoid the impression that a justice system is flawed.
Famous examples of mistrial include Joan of Arc, accused of heresy in 1431 and posthumously acquitted in 1456. She was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1920. In America, in 1954, Dr. Sam Sheppard was accused and convicted of murdering his wife. Sheppard served ten years in prison before the US Supreme Court allowed the retrial that led to his acquittal. His case became the inspiration for the long-running TV series and feature film, known as The Fugitive.
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