INNOCENTS IN THE USA

. As of April 15th, 2016, over 1700 prisoners have been exonerated in the USA.

. 157 prisoners on death row in the US have been already exonerated as of Jan 20th. 2017

. 5 000 known innocence cases of prisoners worldwide who have been exonerated (including 3 000 in the USA), go here

Key contributing factors to exonerations are:

. Perjury or false accusation (nearly 60%)
. Official misconduct (nearly 50%)
. Mistaken witness ID (nearly 40%)
. False or misleading forensic evidence (over 20%)
. False confessions (over 10%)
  see also graph here and The National Registry of Exonerations

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CAUSES OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS IN DEATH ROW CASES
(SOURCE: DPIC)

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Here are 10 moving testimonies of people who have been exonerated, which are emblematic examples of the reasons why people get wrongfully convicted. 
(Credit: OneForTen production).  A complete list of all the 150 death row prisoners exonerated and freed in the USA can be found on the DPIC website.

Eyewitness misidentification
(Present in 45% OF
wrongful convictions cases)

Do you want to understand how a victim can misidentify his abuser?
WATCH great CBS program here: Lesley Stahl reports on flaws in eyewitness testimony that are at the heart of the DNA exonerations of falsely convicted people like Ronald Cotton, who has now forgiven his accuser, Jennifer Thompson (13 mns)

Perjury and false accusation
(Present in over 25% of exoneration cases by DNA)

Snitch Testimony
(Present in 10% of wrongful convictions cases)

Racism

Expert witness Testimony

False confession
(Present in 8% of
wrongful convictions cases)

Prosecutorial misconduct
(Present in 17% of wrongful conviction cases)

DNA evidence
(DNA testing helps prove innocence in less than 10% of cases)

Poor public defence

Expert witness testimony

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Learn more about the SAVE Innocents campaign

. Mental illness & innocence
. Famous innocence cases
. No longer death row
. Already exonerated
. Executed but innocents?
. Pardoned posthumously
. Where to get help
. Statistics