ON THE EXONERATION OF ROY BROWN
AFTER 15 YEARS IN JAIL FOR A MURDER HE DID NOT COMMIT

Roy Brown's release from prison after serving 15 years for a Cayuga County murder he did not commit once again focuses the eyes of the state and nation on the plague of wrongful convictions that argue persuasively against any move to reinstate New York's death penalty.

It was Mr. Brown's own dogged pursuit of the truth from behind bars that led to DNA testing that cleared him, and implicated a man who killed himself after being confronted by evidence Brown himself was forced to uncover when prosecutors refused to consider his pleas of innocence. Once again, the Innocence Project, which took the evidence Mr. Brown developed and championed his cause, has done magnificent work in restoring justice.

Mr. Brown now joins Jeffrey Deskovic, Douglas Warney, Barry Gibb, and Alan Newton as New York inmates recently freed from long prison terms after DNA evidence was used to prove their innocence.

Unfortunately, New York ranks at the top - along with Texas and Illinois - among states where post-conviction investigations have freed inmates serving long prison sentences or who were sent to death row for murders they did not commit. We rank at the top of so many lists, but this is hardly one that we can be proud of.

While we welcome the role that DNA has played in the exonerations of defendants who were wrongfully convicted, it should be noted that no DNA evidence exists in upwards of 80 percent of homicides. How many other inmates sit in prison because of faulty eyewitness testimony, prosecutorial or police misconduct, or simple human error?

The death penalty is a flawed instrument that has failed to pass any rational test of effectiveness, fairness or balance. It is too costly to administer, too biased in its application and has no deterrent value. That is why growing majorities of New Yorkers now support life without parole as the appropriate maximum sentence for those convicted of the most serious crimes.

The criminal justice system is run by imperfect human beings. Mistakes are inevitable. But when a human life is at stake, there can be no margin for error. Even one mistake is intolerable.

When it comes to capital punishment, there is one question that trumps all others: do we really want, in the name of justice, to execute the innocent?

That is why New Yorkers know that we can live without the death penalty.