If you have found yourself charged with a heinous crime, you may think that your innocence will reveal itself. That is not always so, even when you have a lawyer that believes you and backs you up. The following facts about crime and conviction are startling enough that you may seriously pursue your right to a criminal defense lawyer to defend you after you have read these facts.

Crooked Cops Exist

Bad cops exist, and not just in TV and the movies. Planted evidence is a real thing, as is a frame-up. One man was accused twice of the same murders in the seventies, before it was finally proved that he did not do anything that he was accused of doing. The detective had planted the evidence, believing so strongly that this particular man had to be the right one. There are several other infamous cases of crooked cops and frame-ups, and if you feel that you may have been the target of an incident like this, your criminal defense lawyer can launch a complete investigation to find out the truth.

Witnesses Change Their Stories and Have False Memories

A witness that supposedly places you at the scene of a crime may not remember it quite right. In fact, what a witness remembers may have occurred several days before or after the event, making his or her testimony fallible. In fact, studies conducted on witness memory have suggested the same, and all it would take is camera footage from a security camera or other witnesses stating something to the contrary to prove that the star witness or witnesses are remembering a chain of events incorrectly. Your criminal defense attorney could find the truth and unravel the witnesses' stories based on this particular fact alone.

Four Percent (or More!) of People on Death Row Are Innocent

In a staggering look at how flawed the justice system really is, it has been discovered that four percent or more of all of the inmates sent to death row are innocent. That is hundreds, (maybe even thousands) of people who have died and/or will die for crimes they did not commit because the system failed them. It is proof positive that you absolutely do not want to take any chances with the courts by refusing your right to a defense lawyer. If you cannot afford one, invoke your right for the courts to assign one to you; if you are truly innocent, you want every fighting chance and opportunity provided to you by your lawyer to prove it. Contact a lawyer like Thomas A Corletta for more information.