Experts call for reforms in police interrogations after Tapp exoneration
Jul 19, 2019
"Christopher Tapp's story is frighteningly common.
Tapp, who served more than 20 years in prison for the 1996 rape and murder of Angie Dodge, was exonerated Wednesday, two months after another man confessed to the crime and said he acted alone.
That Tapp is free, seven years before he would have been scheduled for his first parole hearing, is the culmination of the work of his public defender John Thomas and countless other volunteers. It's also a testament to the well-documented efforts of Carol Dodge, Angie's mother, who has long sought the truth about what happened to her daughter. In her search for the truth, Carol came to believe Tapp had nothing to do with Angie's death.
Certainly, Carol's role in advocating for the freedom of the man she once believed had stolen her daughter's life is different. There are many other people — primarily men — like Tapp, serving long prison sentences for crimes they didn't commit.
Aside from the elation that followed Tapp's exoneration Wednesday, the overwhelming message from those involved in helping him clear his name was that there are lessons to be learned.
Vanessa Potkin, The Innocence Project's director of post-conviction litigation, joined Tapp and Thomas at Wednesday's hearing. In a press conference afterward, she highlighted how common cases such as Tapp's are.
"Since 1989, two thousand, four hundred and now 67 people have been proven innocent when you take into account all types of evidence," she said.
Of those, 367 were cases where those who'd been convicted were later proven innocent through the use of DNA evidence. Like Tapp, 28% (103 people) had falsely confessed...."
Experts call for reforms in police interrogations after Tapp exoneration
We love & miss you Angie 
