The fact that you continue to deny the obvious really speaks to your own shortcomings, not Mark's, and not Mark's family. Your stubborness is quite revealing, and demonstrates the problem inherent in all miscarriage of justice cases, that people who form an entrenched opinion on a case always dig their heels in when challenged, no matter what subsequently comes to light. I can't think of many exonerations where the original police and prosecution admit they were wrong. The Daniel Morgan enquiry exemplifies this phenonmenon.
There are plenty of reasons in this case to doubt the safety of the conviction, the fairness of the trial, or the thoroughness and impartiality of the police investigation - a quick browse of our website gives most people pause for thought.
However, even if there were no new evidence at all, this would reveal nothing about Mark's guilt or innocence. Many innocent people languish in prison because they are unable to find fresh evidence. That doesn't make them guilty. The Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice recognised this problem in their recent report, 'In the Interests of Justice', calling for changes to the way the Court of Appeal assesses wrongful convictions so that they can be overturned even where no fresh evidence exists, but where there is nevertheless serious doubt about the verdict.
‘Suzanne Gower, PhD researcher, and former managing director of the legal charity APPEAL shares her thoughts on the long-awaited report of the Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice, “In the Interests of Justice”. Suzanne played a leading role in helping establish the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice (APPGMJ).
http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/author/suzanne-gower/‘Suzanne Gower, managing director of the Centre for Criminal Appeals, said that the disclosure failings were ‘deeply concerning to anyone who rightly expects our justice system to ensure innocent people aren’t wrongly imprisoned’. ‘We frequently find our ability to investigate miscarriage of justice cases is hampered by not being able to access their documents even after conviction,’ she added.
‘In much of the United States, police files and prosecutor files on a case become a matter of public record once a conviction is made,’ she said. ‘In England and Wales we are far less transparent – and it is miscarriage of justice victims who lose out as they are prevented from being able to prove their innocence.’
https://www.thejusticegap.com/prosecution-failing-disclose-properly-four-10-cases/MPs to look into the plight of the wrongly convicted by Suzanne Gower for The Justice Gap
Excerpt:
‘At the Centre for Criminal Appeals, the non-profit law practice and charity dedicated to investigating such cases, there is certainly no shortage of requests for our services; over 800 in the last three years.
And yet the current mood amongst those of us dedicated to challenging miscarriages of justice is markedly pessimistic. The Criminal Cases Review Commission’s much heralded historical referral rate of 3.3% disguises a miniscule 0.77% last year. Those lucky few who make it past this considerable hurdle find themselves before an increasingly reactionary Court of Appeal Criminal Division.
Professor Julie Price from the Cardiff Law School Innocence Project sums up these concerns and frustrations:
“Obviously, we can never know for certain whether someone is actually innocent. But in 12 years, our project has presented to the CCRC serious evidential flaws relating to 17 people maintaining innocence, with success in only one. This cannot be right: statistically, morally, or in terms of simple fairness. There is something fundamentally wrong – arguably the statutory relationship between the CCRC and the Court of Appeal. Is the CCRC, as the public guardian of miscarriages of justice, prepared to support the recommendations of the Justice Select Committee and press the government to properly review the relationship between the CCRC and the Court of Appeal and the approach of the latter? If not, why not?’
Her colleague Dr Dennis Eady recently told the audience at the CCRC’s 20th anniversary conference that he considers the situation to be worse than either in 1991 when the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice was ordered, and 1997 when the CCRC began its work. When I later asked Dr Eady to expand upon this view he told me that he stood by the comment:
“Due process safeguards have been drastically eroded and the CPS seems intent on achieving prosecutions at all costs and opposing every appeal regardless of its merits. The always low, referral rate of the CCRC is the lowest it’s ever been and the Court of Appeal seems to be becoming more and more intransigent and restrictive. It has become far too easy to wrongly convict and close to impossible to overturn genuine miscarriages of justice. Justice is in crisis and all responsible attempts to address the problem will end in disillusionment unless the government addresses the issues.’
https://www.thejusticegap.com/mps-look-plight-wrongly-convicted/