In 1989, Texas executed Carlos DeLuna, a poor Hispanic man with
childlike intelligence, for the murder of Wanda Lopez, a convenience
store clerk. His execution passed unnoticed for years until a team of
Columbia Law School faculty and students almost accidentally chose to
investigate his case and found that DeLuna almost certainly was
innocent. They discovered that no one had cared enough about either the
defendant or the victim to make sure the real perpetrator was found.
Everything that could go wrong in a criminal case did. This book
documents DeLuna's conviction, which was based on a single, nighttime,
cross-ethnic eyewitness identification with no corroborating forensic
evidence. At his trial, DeLuna's defense, that another man named Carlos
had committed the crime, was not taken seriously. The lead prosecutor
told the jury that the other Carlos, Carlos Hernandez, was a "phantom"
of DeLuna's imagination. In upholding the death penalty on appeal, both
the state and federal courts concluded the same thing: Carlos Hernandez
did not exist.
The evidence the Columbia team uncovered reveals that Hernandez not only
existed but was well known to the police and prosecutors. He had a long
history of violent crimes similar to the one for which DeLuna was
executed. Families of both Carloses mistook photos of each for the
other, and Hernandez's violence continued after DeLuna was put to death.
This book and its website (thewrongcarlos.net) reproduce
law-enforcement, crime lab, lawyer, court, social service, media, and
witness records, as well as court transcripts, photographs, radio
traffic, and audio and videotaped interviews, documenting one of the
most comprehensive investigations into a criminal case in U.S. history.
The result is eye-opening yet may not be unusual. Faulty eyewitness
testimony, shoddy legal representation, and prosecutorial misfeasance
continue to put innocent people at risk of execution. The principal
investigators conclude with novel suggestions for improving accuracy
among the police, prosecutors, forensic scientists, and judges.
