Tainted Trials, Stolen Justice
San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, California, 2006
Description
The Tainted Trials, Stolen Justice series began with a reporter’s exploration of errors in criminal cases in Santa Clara County, California. This wide-ranging investigation of three years of criminal trials showed significant errors in every part of the system: judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors and the appeals court. The graphics in this series broke down the numbers, the effects and individual cases. They represent an unheralded level of information and reporting. We show what this important story is; we don’t tell. This series resulted in the release of a number of wrongfully convicted people and substantial reforms to the Santa Clara County criminal-justice system, and affected the race for District Attorney.
Juror Notes
“Tremendous effort. Visuals undoubtedly increase the audience for the series, shining a light on the arcane details of the justice process precisely where it was tampered with.”
Credits
- Design firm
- San Jose Mercury News
- Creative director
- Matt Mansfield
- Art director
- Jonathon Berlin
- Designer
- Shan Carter
- Illustrator
- Doug Griswold
- Editor
- James H. Robinson
- Writer
- Fredric Tulsky
- Paper
- Newsprint
- Typefaces
- Griffith Gothic, Miller Roman
- Client
- San Jose Mercury News