Five flaws in American criminal jurisprudence

So says Kerry Max Cook, wrongfully convicted of rape and murder, then incarcerated 22 years before exhonoration.

The five flaws?

The first flaw is an error of mistaken identification, and the second is the use of weak inmate testimony by the prosecution, he said. The third flaw is “junk sciences.” Cook said this is when the prosecution calls expert witnesses who essentially tailor their findings to remove reasonable doubt and ensure conviction.

The fourth flaw, prosecutorial misconduct, Cook deems the most critical in regards to his own false conviction, he said.

“The reason for that degree of prosecutorial misconduct is that prosecutors enjoy qualified immunity, and in the wrong hands, it becomes nothing short of a license to lie and cheat,” he said.

The fifth flaw is ineffective assistance counseling, Cook said, using a comparison between Kmart and Saks Fifth Avenue shoppers to show what having the money to hire the best lawyers can do for someone.

Sure, DNA testing may reverse cases, but if the state doesn’t do DNA review, let alone always do it, and do it well on today’s active cases? Well, it all boils down to defendant money:

“Money is what determines who lives and dies in this country. The death penalty is not racist; the death penalty targets the poor.”

Beyond that is the issue of getting money to get a good lawyer, especially in the face of that flaw of prosecutorial misconduct. (Arguably, that flaw includes Nos. 2 and 3 as well.)