TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's Innocence Commission says inadequate funding of the state's criminal justice system is an overriding factor leading to the wrongful conviction of innocent people.
    
The panel added a call for the Legislature to appropriate more money for courts, prosecutors, public defenders and crime laboratories to the final report it filed Thursday.
    
The state Supreme Court created the panel in response growing evidence of mistakes in the criminal justice system including the exoneration of 13 Florida convicts due to DNA testing.
    
The commission initially focused on such causes as mistaken eyewitness identifications and erroneous scientific evidence, but the report said it soon became clear that insufficient funding also has been a key factor.

Associated Press