In a three part series, the Boston Herald and Fox 25 are probing the wrongful convictions of defendants in Massachusetts, raising troubling questions about how and why 22 men were imprisoned for crimes they never committed. The series highlights the work of a top Boston homicide detective whose tactics have been slammed by defense lawyers as over the line.

Since 1997 alone, nine innocent black men convicted in Suffolk County have been freed after serving anywhere from four to 30 years behind bars. Throughout the country, 143 innocent suspects have been freed since 1990, but experts say the number of Suffolk County's wrongful convictions is second only to Chicago, which has sent the largest number of innocent men to jail. "Unfortunately, Massachusetts in general has a big problem with wrongful convictions,'' said Aliza B. Kaplan, an Innocence Project attorney. `

To his credit, Boston Mayor Thomas Merino is trying to fast-track a statewide ``compensation fund'' for people wrongfully convicted of major crimes.

This is the state that thinks it can restore the death penalty in a way that will be fair and protect the innocent? We don't think so.