CJUS 570 - Wrongful Convictions

Credit Hours: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Laboratory (or Other) Hours: 0

Prerequisite(s): CJUS 500 and CJUS 510
Corequisite(s): None
Restriction(s): Students must be enrolled in the Master of Science in Criminal Justice program

This course will explore the situations that have caused wrongful convictions and look at remedies and procedures put in practice to prevent such injustices from occurring. This course studies the topics of eyewitness identification, false confessions, flawed forensic science, and photo arrays and lineups as a means for identification. Additionally, police methods, the use of informants, and prosecutorial and judicial misconduct are studied.

Student Learning Outcomes of the Course:

Evaluate the current identification procedures influencing misidentification of criminal suspects.
Analyze how issues in forensic analyses, interrogation and attorney misconduct impact wrongful convictions.
Design potential remedies for wrongful convictions based on substantive knowledge and analysis of current research and issues.