Junk Forensic Science and Wrongful Convictions: A National Survey Anchored by the Maria Montalvo Case

GPS research collections estimate that 4–6 percent of people incarcerated in the United States are innocent, translating to roughly 2,500 innocent people in Georgia's prisons, while documented exonerations remain far lower and post-conviction legal barriers are severe. Conviction Integrity Units exist in only about 5 percent of prosecutor offices nationwide and just 3 of Georgia's 159 counties, and the state's habeas corpus system is dominated by self-represented petitioners facing a four-year filing limitation. The result is a post-conviction system that identifies only a fraction of the wrongful convictions it produces and often punishes innocence through procedural default.