Joseph Sledge was convicted of a double murder in 1978. He was cleared in 2015, after evidence that should have helped him was found on a forgotten shelf. In 2020, Ronnie Long walked free after 44 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. His case became one of the longest known examples of a wrongful conviction in the United States.
How does this happen? How does an innocent person lose years to a prison cell?
Human error happens in any system, but here, the stakes are life-changing. When mistakes in investigations or in court go unseen, the cost is measured in years taken from real lives. These stories show how wrongful convictions grow in the dark, where lost evidence, overlooked details, and secrecy keep the truth from surfacing.
This blog looks at North Carolina’s justice system through the lens of transparency. We will explain how errors occur, who works to correct them, why some records remain sealed, and how more sunlight can help prevent future mistakes.
When the System Gets It Wrong
Criminal cases are built by people. People gather evidence, choose which leads to follow, and decide what to show the jury. That’s where errors can creep in.
An officer might rely on a shaky eyewitness. A lab tech might mislabel a sample. A clerk might misplace a file. A prosecutor might miss something that cuts against the theory of the case.
One mistake can be fixed. Several small ones can add up and lead to serious problems.
Here are some of the most common causes of wrongful convictions:
- Mishandled Evidence: When evidence is lost or mislabeled, the jury never hears the full story. In Sledge’s case, material that could have set him free sat on a courthouse shelf for years before being rediscovered. It proved that record-keeping and chain of custody are not small details. They’re the core of fairness.
- Tunnel Vision: This happens when investigators become convinced they’ve found the right suspect and stop looking elsewhere. Leads that don’t fit the narrative are ignored. Witnesses who challenge it are dismissed.
- Withheld or Overlooked Information: Sometimes, reports that could help the defense stay buried in files, and no one looks for them. When evidence isn’t shared, juries decide cases without the full picture, and justice suffers.
North Carolina’s Fight for the Innocent
North Carolina is unusual in a hopeful way. It created a statewide agency whose only job is to spot wrongful convictions when new evidence points to innocence.
That agency is the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (NCIIC). It is independent from prosecutors and defense lawyers and was established as a neutral, truth-seeking forum for people claiming factual innocence.
To this day, NC remains the only state in the U.S. with a state-run commission of this kind.
Based on its purpose, this commission:
- Reviews post-conviction claims of factual innocence. A person must claim complete factual innocence of the crime for which they were convicted. The Commission can subpoena records, order forensic testing, and investigate leads that were never explored at trial.
- Refers strong cases to court. If the Commission finds sufficient evidence of actual innocence, the case is moved to a three-judge panel (in Superior Court) for an evidentiary hearing. If the panel unanimously finds innocence, the conviction is dismissed.
These efforts show why transparency, independent investigation, and a pathway back to court matter. They are crucial in uncovering and preventing wrongful convictions.
The Transparency Debate
Even with the progress North Carolina has made, the question of transparency remains unsettled. The NCIIC does extraordinary work, but much of what it learns stays behind closed doors. That secrecy has long drawn criticism from attorneys, journalists, and reform advocates who argue that sunlight helps prevent future wrongful convictions.
Here’s why critics push for openness:
- Accountability: When mistakes by police, prosecutors, or analysts are kept confidential, patterns of error stay hidden. Public access allows other cases to be corrected faster and helps agencies improve their own practices.
- Public Trust: Confidence in the justice system depends on openness. When the public can see how exonerations happen, it strengthens the belief that the system can admit and fix its own errors.
- Learning from Mistakes: Each exoneration reveals what went wrong, whether it was a misidentified suspect, lost evidence, or a flawed investigation. Sharing that information helps prevent the next tragedy.
In 2017, The News & Observer reported that the Commission “carefully guards records it collects while investigating claims of innocence. Even when commission officials find proof of a wrongful conviction, they still insist that their documents be shielded by protective orders.” That statement captured a concern still debated today: that privacy rules meant to protect individuals may also keep the public from seeing how justice is corrected.
Transparency is about learning, trust, and prevention. When the public can see what went wrong, accountability follows, and the justice system grows stronger for everyone.
Why It Matters to Every Defendant
Wrongful convictions don’t begin as headlines. They often start with small choices that no one questions. If you’re accused of a crime in North Carolina, the details of how your case is handled will shape the outcome.
That’s why this debate about transparency is not abstract. It reaches into every file room, interview room, and courtroom.
How Small Errors Become Big Problems
In the justice system, every mistake counts and can lead to serious consequences. Here are some of them:
- Missing context in the evidence: A photo without the notes that explain it, a lab result without the full chain of custody, a report without the prior drafts. Jurors never see what is not preserved.
- Assumptions that go untested: A confident witness can be wrong. A familiar investigative method can be flawed. If no one checks, errors harden into “facts.”
- Disclosure gaps: When materials that could help the defense are late, incomplete, or overlooked, the case proceeds without the full picture. That gap can steer a verdict.
In such cases, you aim for the professionals. A skilled defense lawyer looks for the places where errors hide. That work includes:
- Challenging searches and seizures that did not follow the rules.
- Testing the chain of custody for every important item.
- Requesting complete discovery and following up when materials are missing.
- Consulting independent experts to review forensics and methodology.
- Recreating timelines to show what the jury needs to see.
This is how wrongful convictions are prevented. The goal is simple: Every decision should be made on the full story, not on what is easiest to find.
Taking Action: Protecting Your Rights and Your Future
Joseph Sledge and Ronnie Long remind us that the justice system can correct itself, but only when the truth is allowed to surface. Human error exists, yet secrecy and weak oversight can turn errors into years lost to a cell. Transparency, careful evidence handling, and full disclosure are how we prevent a wrongful conviction from taking root. Every case deserves that level of care.
If you or someone you love is facing charges or believes a conviction was unjust, don’t waste precious time hoping that innocence will prove itself.
Kurtz & Blum approach each case with thorough investigation, persistent advocacy, and a focus on your rights at every step. Talk with an experienced North Carolina criminal defense attorney who will press for the full story and fight for a fair outcome.
Justice depends on truth, and truth needs light because any wrongful conviction is one too many.
