The Postconviction Workgroup: Cooperation Between Adversaries in Exoneration Cases

During postconviction innocence review, prosecutors and defense attorneys can set aside their adversarial roles and cooperate on case reinvestigation and resolution. This dynamic makes the postconviction setting especially worthy for a study of attorney workgroup relationships. Yet, criminological research of these relationships traditionally focuses on pretrial processes. Therefore, this study explores how attorneys cooperate and even collaborate to investigate potential wrongful convictions. It employs semistructured interviews with 19 defense attorneys and 20 prosecutors who have each helped exonerate a wrongfully convicted defendant. Results demonstrate that prosecutors valued open communication and transparency, ample time to review the case, and diplomacy and tact in protecting the reputation of the prosecutors’ office. For example, prosecutors and defense attorneys may engage in postconviction negotiations regarding media strategies and misconduct allegations. These results may help guide policy proposals that promote the independence and integrity of postconviction innocence review.