' with the case. Not only was she coached, but she was also threatened with perjury if she failed to repeat this false testimony in court. And in even another case, Tibbs v. Florida , "there is strong evidence that they (police) jumped at the opportunity to build a case even when they knew all they had was totally unreliable testimony. (Radelet, 57). These are just a few synopses of the harsh role mistaken eyewitnesses and perjury by prosecution witnesses' play in ruining the lives of innocent people by subverting the criminal justice system. Beyond false testimony, those in power in our country have tremendous control over who is indicted. "Cases of miscarriage of justice occur when community passion is aroused against vulnerable defendants" (Radelet, 18). Unfortunately these cases occur quite frequently. They occur mostly due to politics, and social status. One infinitely famous case is that of Hauptmann v. State. It is so famous because the kidnapped and murdered victim was the grandson of Charles Lindbergh (the aviator). A ransom was initially paid (in marked bills) for the child, however the child was never returned. Two years later though, a marked bill was used in a gas station and the German immigrant who used it, Richard Hauptmann was arrested. "From that day until his death in New Jersey's electric chair on April 1936, Hauptmann protested his innocence". (Radelet, 100). Throughout this case, the prosecutors committed many wrongdoings. Most significant was that at that time, murder in the course of kidnapping was not a capital crime, yet Hauptmann was still executed! The attorney general at the time, David Wilentz, was also the prosecutor, and thus pandered to the public by finding and convicting, an innocent murderer. Clearly, this German immigrant was wrongly convicted due to political manipulations against a defenseless minority. This was just one example of political motivations infecting the criminal justice ...
