Executed but innocent?
We have listed here below over 40 cases in which the prisoners have been executed despite serious doubts on their guilt, whether from their lawyers, professionals of the justice system, their supporters. Those are cases of likely, strong, plausible or possible cases of innocence
Please also read about the most controversial innocence cases in history.
In other cases, the defendants were actually pardoned posthumously years after their execution
(First published: 2014)
Proponents of the death penalty have asserted that it has not been proven that an innocent person has been executed in the United States since the death penalty was restored in the mid-1970s following Furman v. Georgia. They define an innocent person as someone whose innocence has been officially established, either by a court or admission by the prosecutor. Under that operative definition, innocence has never been established because the criminal justice process officially ends with execution. There simply is no process for post-execution exoneration - However, some prisoners have been officially pardoned years after their execution.
To date, many executions have been carried out in the United States in face of compelling evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt. While innocence has not been proven in any specific case, there is no reasonable doubt that some of the executed prisoners were innocent. Many cases remain yet to be further investigated.
Disclaimer: This list and information is the result of internet research, which is currently on-going, with the objective of raising awareness and debate over the possibility of prisoners possibly executed, whilst innocent. All efforts have been taken to select reliable, serious source of information, such as the Center on Wrongful Convictions (Northwestern School of law) or the Death Penalty Information Center, as well as research done by some lawyers interested in the subject, and the media. This research is on-going. A full report will be produced. If you would like to contribute, please contact us.
Proponents of the death penalty have asserted that it has not been proven that an innocent person has been executed in the United States since the death penalty was restored in the mid-1970s following Furman v. Georgia. They define an innocent person as someone whose innocence has been officially established, either by a court or admission by the prosecutor. Under that operative definition, innocence has never been established because the criminal justice process officially ends with execution. There simply is no process for post-execution exoneration - However, some prisoners have been officially pardoned years after their execution.
To date, many executions have been carried out in the United States in face of compelling evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt. While innocence has not been proven in any specific case, there is no reasonable doubt that some of the executed prisoners were innocent. Many cases remain yet to be further investigated.
Disclaimer: This list and information is the result of internet research, which is currently on-going, with the objective of raising awareness and debate over the possibility of prisoners possibly executed, whilst innocent. All efforts have been taken to select reliable, serious source of information, such as the Center on Wrongful Convictions (Northwestern School of law) or the Death Penalty Information Center, as well as research done by some lawyers interested in the subject, and the media. This research is on-going. A full report will be produced. If you would like to contribute, please contact us.
ALABAMA (4)
Thomas Douglas Arthur (AL) was executed in May 2017, after 3 trial and 8 execution dates. He always maintained his innocence. Below is a video made of the words he had written. It has been impossible to verify the legitimacy of his plea. May someone go and find out whether the USA have indeed executed an innocent man. Read more
Freddie Lee Wright (Executed March 3, 2000)
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, strong cases of Innocence)
Wright was convicted and executed for the murders of Warren and Lois Green. The Greens were a white couple & Wright black. The jury that sentenced him to death was all white. Wright's first trial ended in a mistrial with eleven out of twelve jurors voting to acquit. No physical evidence linked Wright to the crime. Wright's co-defendants testified against him in exchange for receiving lesser sentences. Two of those co-defendants later recanted. One named another man as the killer. The man who was originally arrested for the crime was never tried, even though his gun was identified as the murder weapon. The state would later admit that it withheld evidence relating to deals made with several of its witnesses as well as intentionally suppressing its star witness at the second trial. Two state Supreme Court justices voted to stay Wright's execution finding clear and convincing evidence of his innocence. Wright's attorney was subsequently disbarred.
In a penpal request, Freddie Lee Wright wrote as he was still fighting for his life:
(...) At the present time my future is looking pretty bleak, but I am still very much hopeful that things will change and my life won't end here by my being put to death. I am now down to my last two rounds of appeals. I hope my present situation won't keep any one from writing. I really need some one I can relate to doing whatever time I have left. (...) I am open-minded, with a good sense of humor, I am also sincere. My life may be ending but I still have a lot to offer through friendship in the way of touching others heart and minds, to enlighten them about myself and my many walks in life. I am interested in hearing from any one who is sincere, open-minded and down to earth. Age, sex, race or religion doesn't matter. Freddie Lee Wright
READ - All press reviews and Freddie Lee Wright's statement here
READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, strong cases of Innocence)
Wright was convicted and executed for the murders of Warren and Lois Green. The Greens were a white couple & Wright black. The jury that sentenced him to death was all white. Wright's first trial ended in a mistrial with eleven out of twelve jurors voting to acquit. No physical evidence linked Wright to the crime. Wright's co-defendants testified against him in exchange for receiving lesser sentences. Two of those co-defendants later recanted. One named another man as the killer. The man who was originally arrested for the crime was never tried, even though his gun was identified as the murder weapon. The state would later admit that it withheld evidence relating to deals made with several of its witnesses as well as intentionally suppressing its star witness at the second trial. Two state Supreme Court justices voted to stay Wright's execution finding clear and convincing evidence of his innocence. Wright's attorney was subsequently disbarred.
In a penpal request, Freddie Lee Wright wrote as he was still fighting for his life:
(...) At the present time my future is looking pretty bleak, but I am still very much hopeful that things will change and my life won't end here by my being put to death. I am now down to my last two rounds of appeals. I hope my present situation won't keep any one from writing. I really need some one I can relate to doing whatever time I have left. (...) I am open-minded, with a good sense of humor, I am also sincere. My life may be ending but I still have a lot to offer through friendship in the way of touching others heart and minds, to enlighten them about myself and my many walks in life. I am interested in hearing from any one who is sincere, open-minded and down to earth. Age, sex, race or religion doesn't matter. Freddie Lee Wright
READ - All press reviews and Freddie Lee Wright's statement here
READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here
BRIAN BALDWIN - Executed in 1999)
(Source: Northwestern University school of Law, Center of wrongful convictions) Brian Keith Baldwin, a 40-year-old African American, died in the Alabama electric chair in 1999 for the murder 22 years earlier of a white teenager, Naomi Rolon — a crime that Baldwin’s co-defendant, Edward Dean Horsley, claimed to have committed without Baldwin’s knowledge. Baldwin’s conviction and death sentence rested on a confession that he claimed had been extracted by torture — beating and electroshock. The confession was incorrect about material details, including how Rolon died and the instrument with which she had been bludgeoned. At the time of their arrest, there was blood on Horsley’s clothes, but not on Baldwin’s. Forensic evidence developed after Baldwin’s trial indicated that Rolon had been beaten by a left-handed person — which Horsley was and Baldwin was not. (See also: Capital Defence Weekly, plausible cases of innocence and more details on the case here) READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here |
Cornelius Singleton - Executed in 1992
(Northwestern school of Law, Center of wrongful convictions and Capital Defence Weekly - plausible case of innocence) Cornelius Singleton (Alabama) Singleton was convicted and executed for killing Sister Ann Hogan while praying in a cemetery. There was no physical evidence placing Singleton at the scene of the crime or linking him to the murder. Singleton had no connection to the victim and no motive. Eyewitnesses identified the man thought to be the killer as a white male with blonde hair. Singleton was an African-American man. No other suspects were investigated. Singleton had an IQ between 55 and 65. Singleton was taken to the cemetery where the murder took place and was questioned about details, despite his apparent lack of knowledge of the crime. According to Singleton, the victim's pager and some papers were on the ground and he was told to pick them up but refused. He was then returned to the police station where he was told to sign the confession. He could not read, but he signed the confession after being told that other charges pending against him would be dropped. In fact, no charges were pending. READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here |
ARKANSAS (2)
Barry Fairchild - Executed in 1995
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, strong cases of innocence)
Fairchild was sentenced to death in August 1983 for the kidnap, rape and shooting death of Marjorie "Greta" Mason. The conviction was based solely on a videotaped 'confession'. Blood, hair, and semen samples could not be linked to Fairchild. The 'confession' video shows Barry Fairchild's head wrapped in bandages, indicating he was subject to severe beating. Thirteen other black men were questioned by Pulaski County Sheriff Tommy Robinson and Deputy Larry Dill and also subjected to extreme physical and mental torture. Michael Johnson, questioned at the same time as Fairchild, states he heard Fairchild's screams and noises similar to beating using a baseball bat. Sheriff Tommy Robinson and Deputy Larry Dill denied ever using excessive force to obtain confessions. Two Federal Court judges, while upholding the death sentence, have ruled that Fairchild was not the actual killer.
READ - All articles here
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, strong cases of innocence)
Fairchild was sentenced to death in August 1983 for the kidnap, rape and shooting death of Marjorie "Greta" Mason. The conviction was based solely on a videotaped 'confession'. Blood, hair, and semen samples could not be linked to Fairchild. The 'confession' video shows Barry Fairchild's head wrapped in bandages, indicating he was subject to severe beating. Thirteen other black men were questioned by Pulaski County Sheriff Tommy Robinson and Deputy Larry Dill and also subjected to extreme physical and mental torture. Michael Johnson, questioned at the same time as Fairchild, states he heard Fairchild's screams and noises similar to beating using a baseball bat. Sheriff Tommy Robinson and Deputy Larry Dill denied ever using excessive force to obtain confessions. Two Federal Court judges, while upholding the death sentence, have ruled that Fairchild was not the actual killer.
READ - All articles here
CHARLES HUDSPETH – EXECUTED 1892, VICTIM ‘FOUND’ 1893
(Source: Internet)
In 1886, George Watkins and his wife, Rebecca, moved from Kansas to Marion County, Arkansas, where Rebecca subsequently became romantically involved with a local man, Charles Hudspeth. Nearly a year later, George Watkins disappeared and Hudspeth was arrested and charged with his murder. Based on Rebecca’s testimony that Hudspeth had murdered Watkins in order to clear the way for them to be married, he was convicted and sentenced to death by Arkansas’ Supreme Court, and was hanged at Harrison, Arkansas, on December 30, 1892. Yet in another case of a ‘victim’ mysteriously reappearing after their ‘murder’, Watkins’s lawyer found him alive and well a year later, living in Kansas – a clear case of wrongful execution.
(Source: Internet)
In 1886, George Watkins and his wife, Rebecca, moved from Kansas to Marion County, Arkansas, where Rebecca subsequently became romantically involved with a local man, Charles Hudspeth. Nearly a year later, George Watkins disappeared and Hudspeth was arrested and charged with his murder. Based on Rebecca’s testimony that Hudspeth had murdered Watkins in order to clear the way for them to be married, he was convicted and sentenced to death by Arkansas’ Supreme Court, and was hanged at Harrison, Arkansas, on December 30, 1892. Yet in another case of a ‘victim’ mysteriously reappearing after their ‘murder’, Watkins’s lawyer found him alive and well a year later, living in Kansas – a clear case of wrongful execution.
CALIFORNIA (1)
Thomas M. Thompson (Executed in 1998)
(Source: Northwestern School of Law, Center of wrongful convictions and Murderpedia)
(Source: Northwestern School of Law, Center of wrongful convictions and Murderpedia)
- Both the Federal District Court and the State Appeals Court threw out the rape conviction, which was the special circumstances that made Thompson eligible for the death penalty.
- Both the Federal District Court and the State Appeals Court held that it was probable that Thompson would not have been convicted of rape or sentenced to death if his attorney had been competent.
- Seven former prosecutors, including an author of California's death penalty law, filed a brief on Thompson's behalf in the U.S. Supreme Court, citing the prosecution's manipulation of witnesses and facts in Thompson's trial and expressing doubt about Thompson's conviction.
- Evidence that Leitch, the other man convicted of the murder, witnessed Thompson and the victim engaging in consensual sex the night of the murder was revealed to state investigators and Leitch's trial counsel prior to Thompson's trial, and was reiterated by Leitch under oath at his parole hearing in 1995. This evidence, which was inconsistent with the prosecution's theory that Thompson had raped and then murdered the victim to cover up the rape, was suppressed by prosecutors and only discovered by a defense investigator in 1997.
- An eleven-judge panel of the Federal Appeals Court found that the prosecutor manipulated evidence and witnesses in Thompson's trial and later, at Leitch's trial, presented evidence that discredited its own previous case against Thompson. It ruled Thompson's death sentence erroneous and his trial unconstitutional.
- The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Appeals Court, ruling that the court, in a series of errors, took too long to reach the decision to vacate Thompson's death sentence.
- The evidence that Thompson was innocent of the special circumstances that made him eligible for the death penalty was barred by the Ninth Circuit Court from consideration because of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.
- READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here
FLORIDA (8)
Jesse Tafero (Executed May 4th, 1990)
( Nortwestern School of Law, Center of wrongful convictions and Capital Defence Weekly) Jesse Tafero was convicted of murder and executed via electric chair May, 1990, in the state of Florida for the murders of two Florida Highway Patrol officers. The conviction of a co-defendant was overturned in 1992 after a recreation of the crime scene indicated a third person had committed the murders. READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here |
Pedro Medina
(Executed March 1997) (Source: Justice denied) On March 25, 1997, Pedro Medina was killed in a botched execution in Florida's "Old Sparky." Medina's head was set on fire and thick smoke filled the execution chamber. But the rare media attention prompted by this spectacle almost entirely ignored substantial questions of Medina's sanity as well as his guilt. 
Amos King (Executed in February 2003)
(Source: Center of Wronful Convictions and Murderpedia) King contended in an interview that he was the victim of racism, circumstances, perjured testimony, and ignored and lost evidence. He maintained his innocence in Brady's murder, saying, "I am not confessing to anything I did not do." King had survived execution attempts by 3 governors. Gov. Bob Graham signed King's 1st warrant in 1981, followed by Gov. Bob Martinez in 1988. King also survived 4 execution dates on a warrant signed by Bush. His last words: "I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man, and the state had evidence to that effect. I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through." King continued talking after his microphone was turned off, but the audience could only see his mouth move |
John Mills (Executed December 1996)
WATCH below Ted Talk with Herb Donaldson who wants to clear his uncle's name in Florida.
In this disquieting TEDx Jacksonville talk, Donaldson documents what happens to the execution’s hidden victims–the family members left behind after their loved one is put to death. Playwright Herb Donaldson insists that, “In pursuing justice, we must not become murderers in the process.”
WATCH below Ted Talk with Herb Donaldson who wants to clear his uncle's name in Florida.
In this disquieting TEDx Jacksonville talk, Donaldson documents what happens to the execution’s hidden victims–the family members left behind after their loved one is put to death. Playwright Herb Donaldson insists that, “In pursuing justice, we must not become murderers in the process.”
Leo Jones Florida Convicted: 1981, Executed: 1998
Jones was convicted of murdering a police officer in Jacksonville, Florida. Jones signed a confession after several hours of police interrogation, but he later claimed the confession was coerced. In the mid-1980s, the policeman who arrested Jones and the detective who took his confession were forced out of uniform for ethical violations. The policeman was later identified by a fellow officer as an "enforcer" who had used torture. Many witnesses came forward pointing to another suspect in the case. Read "Questions of Innocence: Legal Roadblocks Thwart New Evidence on Appeal" by Steve Mills, Chicago Tribune (December 18, 2000) |
James Adams
(Executed May 10th, 2004) (Source: Capital Defence weekly) James Adams (Florida) Adams was convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to death, and executed in 1984. A witness who identified Adams as driving the car away from the victim's home shortly after the crime was later discovered that this witness was angry with Adams for allegedly dating his wife. A second witness heard a voice inside the victim's home at the time of the crime and saw someone fleeing. He stated this voice was a woman's; the day after the crime he stated that the fleeing person was positively not Adams. More importantly, a hair sample found clutched in the victim's hand, which in all likelihood had come from the assailant, did not match Adams' hair. Much of this exculpatory information was not discovered until a skilled investigator a month before Adams' execution examined the case. Read more on Murderpedia here READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here |
Willie Darden
(Executed March, 15th, 1988) (Source: Capital Defence Weekly) Darden was convicted of the murder of a store owner during an attempted robbery. Alibi evidence later surfaced from two independent witnesses came to light in 1986. The witness stated that Darden could not have committed the murder. State and federal rules governing the discovery of newly discovered evidence following trial, however, prevented the evidence from ever being addressed in any court. Even before this new evidence emerged, the U.S. Supreme Court was bitterly divided over the case and upheld the conviction by a narrow five to four majority. The dissenting justices criticized the majority for being "willing to tolerate a level of fairness and reliability so low it should make conscientious prosecutors cringe." Darden was executed on March 15, 1988. More on Murderpedia here READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here |
Roy Stewart
(Executed April 22, 1994) (Source: Capital Defence Weekly) Stewart's conviction of the murder of a woman in 1979 rested almost solely on the testimony of a witness who testified that he had confessed the killing. Several years after the trial witness recanted stating that she gave her story for the sole purpose of avoiding a jail sentence herself for forgery and possession of marijuana. She was released from jail following her testimony at Stewart's trial and was paid a cash reward for her false story. Three state's Attorneys who prosecuted Stewart later came forward opposing the execution for lack of evidence. One of the state's Attorneys said, "The state completely botched the investigation of the scene. They threw away critical evidence. I came to learn... that they also had not pursued other defendants who had much more legitimate contact with the decedent than Mr. Stewart." However, even over the objections of the prosecuting attorneys, Roy Stewart was executed on April 22, 1994. |
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Michael Lambrix (FL) Despite a respectful request to the Governor Florida Rick Scott to grant an exceptional clemency hearing, Mike Lambrix was executed on October 5, 2017. We hope this case will compel the state of Florida to review its clemency process.
Mike Lambrix always maintained his innocence and that he acted in self defence. Read more |
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GEORGIA (5)
Troy Davis, Georgia - Convicted 1991, Executed 2011
After a hearing on September 19, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency to Troy Davis, despite presentation of testimony casting doubt on his guilt. Brian Kammer, one of Davis's attorneys, said, "I am utterly shocked and disappointed at the failure of our justice system at all levels to correct a miscarriage of justice." Davis's claims of innocence have received international attention, and calls for clemency have been made by Pope Benedict XVI, former President Jimmy Carter, former FBI Director William Sessions, former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher and others. Doubts about Davis's guilt were raised when some prosecution witnesses changed their stories after giving testimony against Davis, including accusations pointing to another suspect as the murderer of a police officer in Savannah. The Board heard testimony from a juror in Davis's original trial who now says she has too much doubt about his guilt and would change her verdict. They also heard from a witness who originally testified against Davis, but has since recanted her testimony, and from Davis's family. The Board had held two previous clemency hearings for Davis, but the makeup of the Board had changed since he was denied clemency in 2008, and new testimony had been given at a federal court hearing in 2010. UPDATE: Davis was executed late on the night of Sept. 21, 2011. The U.S. Supreme Court delayed the execution to consider final appeals, but then denied as stay. Listen below the last words of Troy Davis.
After a hearing on September 19, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency to Troy Davis, despite presentation of testimony casting doubt on his guilt. Brian Kammer, one of Davis's attorneys, said, "I am utterly shocked and disappointed at the failure of our justice system at all levels to correct a miscarriage of justice." Davis's claims of innocence have received international attention, and calls for clemency have been made by Pope Benedict XVI, former President Jimmy Carter, former FBI Director William Sessions, former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher and others. Doubts about Davis's guilt were raised when some prosecution witnesses changed their stories after giving testimony against Davis, including accusations pointing to another suspect as the murderer of a police officer in Savannah. The Board heard testimony from a juror in Davis's original trial who now says she has too much doubt about his guilt and would change her verdict. They also heard from a witness who originally testified against Davis, but has since recanted her testimony, and from Davis's family. The Board had held two previous clemency hearings for Davis, but the makeup of the Board had changed since he was denied clemency in 2008, and new testimony had been given at a federal court hearing in 2010. UPDATE: Davis was executed late on the night of Sept. 21, 2011. The U.S. Supreme Court delayed the execution to consider final appeals, but then denied as stay. Listen below the last words of Troy Davis.
LARRY EUGENE MOON
(Source: Northwestern Law, Center of wrongful convictions) A known killer reportedly confessed to the murder for which Larry Moon was executed . Larry's final words: "I'm innocent, and I did not kill Ricky, I'll add." |
Wayne Felker (Execution: 1996)
(Source: Justice Denied) and Capital Defence Weekly, cases of strong Innocence) Within hours of his alleged victims disappearance Felker was the main suspect. He was immediately put under police surveillance. Surveillance began fourteen days before the discovery of her body in a creek. An autopsy then put her death within the previous five days. When the government realized that this would have ruled Felker out as a suspect because he had been under police surveillance for the previous two weeks, the findings of the autopsy were changed. Attorneys representing Felker during the appeals process showed notes and photographs of Ludlam's body to pathologists who unanimously concluded that she could not have been dead for longer than three days. Unfortunately, Felker discovered this information too late as Congress changed the standard of late round appeals just prior to Felker filing his last appeal. Felker was executed, however, the state of Georgia is actively fighting efforts to have Mr. Felker's body, and that of his victims, exhumed for scientific testing. Felker -- if factually innocent -- would have his death directly attributable to the passage of the AEDPA and its Catch - 22 on certain types of innocence related evidence. "The judge characterized the police handling of the case as a 'Kafkaesque nightmare,' and said that [defendant Neil] Ferber's 1982 criminal trial was a 'malevolent charade.'" -- from a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial, August 16, 1996, on the settlement of a wrongful-imprisonment suit by a prisoner released from death row. Another probable frame-up victim was also subjected to a Kafkaesque nightmare, but didn't end up as fortunate as Neil Ferber. On November 15, 1996, Ellis Wayne Felker was executed by the state of Georgia. In 2000, a Georgia judge ruled that DNA testing would be performed in the first-ever attempt by a court to exonerate an executed person in the United States. The results were ruled as inconclusive |
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ELLIS WAYNE FELKER – EXECUTED 1996, CONVICTION INCONCLUSIVE 2000
(Source: Internet)
When Georgian student, Evelyn Joy Ludlum, disappeared in 1981, convicted sex offender, Ellis Wayne Ludlum, was immediately put under surveillance – during which time Ludlum’s mutilated body was found, raped, in a creek. An autopsy subsequently revealed that Evelyn had been dead for five days, information that was later changed when police realised it would rule out Felker from the investigation. During the trial, attorneys discovered boxes of withheld evidence, including DNA evidence and a signed confession by another man, but the Georgia Supreme Court denied the admissibility of this evidence and refused to give Felker more time. He was executed by electric chair on November 15, 1996. In 2000, a Georgia judge ruled that DNA testing would be performed in the first-ever attempt by a court to exonerate an executed person in the United States. The results were ruled as inconclusive, but failed to confirm Felker’s guilt beyond doubt – scientific consensus now judges him to have been innocent.
(Source: Internet)
When Georgian student, Evelyn Joy Ludlum, disappeared in 1981, convicted sex offender, Ellis Wayne Ludlum, was immediately put under surveillance – during which time Ludlum’s mutilated body was found, raped, in a creek. An autopsy subsequently revealed that Evelyn had been dead for five days, information that was later changed when police realised it would rule out Felker from the investigation. During the trial, attorneys discovered boxes of withheld evidence, including DNA evidence and a signed confession by another man, but the Georgia Supreme Court denied the admissibility of this evidence and refused to give Felker more time. He was executed by electric chair on November 15, 1996. In 2000, a Georgia judge ruled that DNA testing would be performed in the first-ever attempt by a court to exonerate an executed person in the United States. The results were ruled as inconclusive, but failed to confirm Felker’s guilt beyond doubt – scientific consensus now judges him to have been innocent.
ILLINOIS (1, possibly 2)
Girvie Davis
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, cases of strong Innocence)
Girvies Davis (Illinois) Davis was convicted of the death of Charles Biebel. There were no witnesses to Mr. Biebel's the robbery/murder and there was no physical evidence at the crime scene to help identify the murderer. Despite the fact that Davis was illiterate, borderline mentally retarded and suffered from mental illness, he allegedly wrote a list of his crimes, confessing to more than a dozen other crimes, including eleven murders. This confession was the only evidence linking Davis to the crime. Before the trial, the prosecutor acknowledged that several of Davis's confessions appeared to have been false. The prosecution acknowledged that Davis was not the trigger man in the Biebel killing, however, the alleged trigger man was never tried in relation to the murder. A jury from which purportedly all African Americans were systematically removed tried Davis, an African American.
READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, cases of strong Innocence)
Girvies Davis (Illinois) Davis was convicted of the death of Charles Biebel. There were no witnesses to Mr. Biebel's the robbery/murder and there was no physical evidence at the crime scene to help identify the murderer. Despite the fact that Davis was illiterate, borderline mentally retarded and suffered from mental illness, he allegedly wrote a list of his crimes, confessing to more than a dozen other crimes, including eleven murders. This confession was the only evidence linking Davis to the crime. Before the trial, the prosecutor acknowledged that several of Davis's confessions appeared to have been false. The prosecution acknowledged that Davis was not the trigger man in the Biebel killing, however, the alleged trigger man was never tried in relation to the murder. A jury from which purportedly all African Americans were systematically removed tried Davis, an African American.
READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here
Andrew Kokoraleis (Illinois)
(Capital Defence Weekly, other possible case of innocence - not investigated)
MISSISSIPPI (2)
Mississipi: Matthew Puckett - Executed in March 2012
(Source: Internet here) Larry Matthew Puckett was convicted of Capital Murder in August of 1996 and was on Death Row at Parchman, Miississippi. Matt and his family and friends have maintained his innocence from the beginning and worked to prove that he did not commit this crime. Despite strong doubts about his innocence, he was executed in March 2012 (see here) All details about his case here |
Edward Earl Johnson (Source: Wikipedia)
His case came to international attention when he was featured in the BBC documentary Fourteen Days In May. Broadcast in 1987, the documentary showed the last two weeks of Johnson's life. It starts on May 6, the day that Johnson learns the date of his execution. In interviews he says that his confession was made under duress, with police threatening him with death. The book, Life on Death Row (Thomas, 1991), by Merrilyn Thomas, details the events leading up to and following the Johnson trial. Thomas shows the key witness for the prosecution to be unreliable, changing her story and identification of her assailant several times at the time of the event and in subsequent questioning. |
MISSOURI (3)
Missouri : Larry Griffin Executed in 1995 (Source: DPIC)
On June 26, 1980 in St. Louis, Missouri, 19-year-old Quintin Moss was killed in a drive-by shooting while allegedly dealing drugs on a street corner. The conviction was based largely on the testimony from Robert Fitzgerald, a white career criminal, who was at the scene at the time of the murder. He testified that he saw three black men in the car when shots were fired and that Griffin shot the victim through the window of the car with his right hand. This was Griffin’s attorney’s first murder trial and he did not challenge the testimony even though Griffin was left-handed. He also failed to bring forth an alibi witness who was with Griffin at the time of the murder.
Griffin’s fingerprints were not found on the car or the weapon – all evidence against him was circumstantial. There is evidence that suggests Fitzgerald was promised a reduce sentence in exchange for his testimony. The prosecution also failed to address that there were two other witnesses who confirmed that Griffin did not commit the murder and they were able to name the three men who did.Appeals courts upheld his conviction and death sentence. Griffin was executed by lethal injection on June 21, 1995. Griffin maintained his innocence right up to his execution. In 2005, a professor University of Michigan Law School reopened the case. His investigation concluded that Griffin was innocent.
A year-long investigation by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has uncovered evidence that Larry Griffin may have been innocent of the crime for which he was executed by the state of Missouri on June 21, 1995. Griffin maintained his innocence until his death, and investigators say his case is the strongest demonstration yet of an execution of an innocent man. The report notes that a man injured in the same drive-by shooting that claimed the life of Quintin Moss says Griffin was not involved in the crime, and the first police officer on the scene has given a new account that undermines the trial testimony of the only witness who identified Griffin as the murderer. Based on its findings, the NAACP has supplied the prosecution with the names of three men it suspects committed the crime, and all three of the suspects are currently in jail for other murders.
See "NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Report on Larry Griffin"
Listen to "Missouri Execution Case Reopened" from NPR: All Things Considered (July 12, 2005)
Read "Did Missouri Execute An Innocent Man?" by Associated Press (July 12, 2005)
READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here
On July 12, 2007 the St. Louis Circuit Attorney concluded that Larry Griffin was guilty after an extensive review. Circuit Attorney report: Summary
Circuit Attorney report: Factual and legal history
Circuit Attorney report: Appellate process
Circuit Attorney report: Investigative findings, analysis and conclusions
Circuit Attorney report: Appendix A through C
Circuit Attorney report: Appendix D through G
On June 26, 1980 in St. Louis, Missouri, 19-year-old Quintin Moss was killed in a drive-by shooting while allegedly dealing drugs on a street corner. The conviction was based largely on the testimony from Robert Fitzgerald, a white career criminal, who was at the scene at the time of the murder. He testified that he saw three black men in the car when shots were fired and that Griffin shot the victim through the window of the car with his right hand. This was Griffin’s attorney’s first murder trial and he did not challenge the testimony even though Griffin was left-handed. He also failed to bring forth an alibi witness who was with Griffin at the time of the murder.
Griffin’s fingerprints were not found on the car or the weapon – all evidence against him was circumstantial. There is evidence that suggests Fitzgerald was promised a reduce sentence in exchange for his testimony. The prosecution also failed to address that there were two other witnesses who confirmed that Griffin did not commit the murder and they were able to name the three men who did.Appeals courts upheld his conviction and death sentence. Griffin was executed by lethal injection on June 21, 1995. Griffin maintained his innocence right up to his execution. In 2005, a professor University of Michigan Law School reopened the case. His investigation concluded that Griffin was innocent.
A year-long investigation by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has uncovered evidence that Larry Griffin may have been innocent of the crime for which he was executed by the state of Missouri on June 21, 1995. Griffin maintained his innocence until his death, and investigators say his case is the strongest demonstration yet of an execution of an innocent man. The report notes that a man injured in the same drive-by shooting that claimed the life of Quintin Moss says Griffin was not involved in the crime, and the first police officer on the scene has given a new account that undermines the trial testimony of the only witness who identified Griffin as the murderer. Based on its findings, the NAACP has supplied the prosecution with the names of three men it suspects committed the crime, and all three of the suspects are currently in jail for other murders.
See "NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Report on Larry Griffin"
Listen to "Missouri Execution Case Reopened" from NPR: All Things Considered (July 12, 2005)
Read "Did Missouri Execute An Innocent Man?" by Associated Press (July 12, 2005)
READ the report of the Grassroot Investigation project here
On July 12, 2007 the St. Louis Circuit Attorney concluded that Larry Griffin was guilty after an extensive review. Circuit Attorney report: Summary
Circuit Attorney report: Factual and legal history
Circuit Attorney report: Appellate process
Circuit Attorney report: Investigative findings, analysis and conclusions
Circuit Attorney report: Appendix A through C
Circuit Attorney report: Appendix D through G
Roy Michael Roberts (Missouri)
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, plausible case of innnocence - Northwestern Law, Center of Wrongful convictions - Grassroot Investigation project)
Roberts was convicted of killing Thomas Jackson, a corrections officer a prison riot on July 3, 1983. Roy Roberts was accused of holding Jackson, while other inmates stabbed him. Numerous inmates testified at Roberts's trial that he was elsewhere during the riot. Roberts passed a polygraph test in which he attested to his innocence just weeks before his execution. Despite a very bloody and grisly murder no blood was found on Roberts clothing. Additionally, at least one witness against Roberts has admitted to perjuring himself in order to curry favor so as to gain parole. A guard’s belated "recollection" led to the execution of Roy Michael Roberts Roy Michael Roberts, a 46-year-old laborer from south St. Louis, was executed at Missouri’s Potosi Correctional Center at 12:07 a.m. on March 10, 1999, for the murder of a prison guard 16 years earlier — a crime Roberts insisted he did not commit. His last words were, "You’re killing an innocent man." - Read more
Walter Blair
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, cases of strong evidence)
Walter Blair (Missouri) Blair's claims of innocence were never heard because he presented them to late (successor habeas proceedings). Blair produced seven affidavits which had strongly suggested his factual innocence. Five of the affiants alleged that another man, Ernest Jones, admitted in their presence that he had killed the victim and framed Blair. Unlike Herrera's case (see below) these did not rely on hearsay, and there were no internal inconsistencies on the relevant points among the seven affidavits. There also was a plausible explanation for the delay in bringing forth the evidence as all seven affiants testified they feared Jones because they knew he previously had committed multiple murders. One affiant was a trial witness; her affidavit claimed that she had falsified her trial testimony at Jones' direction because she feared him. The petition also alleged prosecutorial misconduct, allegations, that were likewise never fully aired.
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, cases of strong evidence)
Walter Blair (Missouri) Blair's claims of innocence were never heard because he presented them to late (successor habeas proceedings). Blair produced seven affidavits which had strongly suggested his factual innocence. Five of the affiants alleged that another man, Ernest Jones, admitted in their presence that he had killed the victim and framed Blair. Unlike Herrera's case (see below) these did not rely on hearsay, and there were no internal inconsistencies on the relevant points among the seven affidavits. There also was a plausible explanation for the delay in bringing forth the evidence as all seven affiants testified they feared Jones because they knew he previously had committed multiple murders. One affiant was a trial witness; her affidavit claimed that she had falsified her trial testimony at Jones' direction because she feared him. The petition also alleged prosecutorial misconduct, allegations, that were likewise never fully aired.
NEBRASKA (1)
Robert Mead Shumway (Source: Northwestern school of law, Center of wrongful convictions)
Robert Mead Shumway, executed in 1909 for crushing the skull of a Gage county farm woman, Sarah Martin.
Three years after the execution, another man allegedly confessed on his deathbed to killing the woman. However, the only evidence NADP has for the confession is from an article in the 1919 issue of the Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology.
Another twist to this case came when a member of Shumway's jury committed suicide soon after the conviction. The Juror was reportedly desponded about going along with the rest of the jury and believed that Shumway was innocent.
SOURCE: Men Executed in Nebraska Who Were or May Have Been Innocent (NADP)
The great grand daughter of the victim recently (September 2016) wrote to us:
Robert Mead Shumway, executed in 1909 for crushing the skull of a Gage county farm woman, Sarah Martin.
Three years after the execution, another man allegedly confessed on his deathbed to killing the woman. However, the only evidence NADP has for the confession is from an article in the 1919 issue of the Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology.
Another twist to this case came when a member of Shumway's jury committed suicide soon after the conviction. The Juror was reportedly desponded about going along with the rest of the jury and believed that Shumway was innocent.
SOURCE: Men Executed in Nebraska Who Were or May Have Been Innocent (NADP)
The great grand daughter of the victim recently (September 2016) wrote to us:
Robert Mead Shumway was executed by hanging in Gage Co, NE 1909 for killing my Great Grandmother Sarah Martin in 1907.
A neighboring farmer actually confessed on his deathbed, but this confession is not a matter of public record and circumstances surrounding the trial led to rumors that it was my Great Grandfather Jacob Martin who raped, bludgeoned and cut the throat of his own spouse. It was well-known in the Firth and Adams communities of NE who the real killer was after the deathbed confession,
but a 1919 article reported the rumor as fact.
Shumway himself admitted to discovering the body while Jacob Martin was at a precinct meeting prior to the latter's return home, discovery of the corpse and contact with authorities.
Please correct the facts in this case to at least report the accusations against my Great Grandfather as mere rumors.
NORTH CAROLINA (1)
Dawud Abdullah Muhammad (formerly David Junior Brown) (North Carolina)
Source: Capital Defence Weekly
Prosecution withheld eyewitnesses and physical evidence from Mr. Muhammad, both during his trial and on appeal. Withheld for 14 years was also a statement by a witness who saw the victims alive during the time the prosecution theorized the murders were being committed. The prosecution a witness who could have testified that the victims' car had been moved around the time they were seen by the witness who had seen them alive. Two witnesses saw a man with long blonde hair jump from the balcony of the victims' apt. when the murders could have occurred, Dawud was black. A long blonde hair found at the crime scene was later lost. The trial was before an all white jury.
Source: Capital Defence Weekly
Prosecution withheld eyewitnesses and physical evidence from Mr. Muhammad, both during his trial and on appeal. Withheld for 14 years was also a statement by a witness who saw the victims alive during the time the prosecution theorized the murders were being committed. The prosecution a witness who could have testified that the victims' car had been moved around the time they were seen by the witness who had seen them alive. Two witnesses saw a man with long blonde hair jump from the balcony of the victims' apt. when the murders could have occurred, Dawud was black. A long blonde hair found at the crime scene was later lost. The trial was before an all white jury.
Ohio (1)
John Byrd - To be investigated
"I am more innocent than anyone consciously wants to believe or realize... What I am requesting is that you take on the leadership role to grant
a reprieve and request for a federal investigation into my conviction." - Excerpt from John Byrd's letter to Gov. Taft, January, 2002.
"I am more innocent than anyone consciously wants to believe or realize... What I am requesting is that you take on the leadership role to grant
a reprieve and request for a federal investigation into my conviction." - Excerpt from John Byrd's letter to Gov. Taft, January, 2002.
OKLAHOMA (2)
Malcolm Rent Johnson (Oklahoma) - Executed January 6th, 2000
See articles:
- Did Oklahoma execute an innocent person? (Dallas Morning News, David Hamilton, 2001)
- Evidence Questioned in Execution: Police Memos Contradict Chemist's Forensic Testimony at a 1982 Oklahoma City Murder Trial (by Henry Weinstein - Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2001)
Jeffrey David Matthews - Executed 2011 - See article here
See articles:
- Did Oklahoma execute an innocent person? (Dallas Morning News, David Hamilton, 2001)
- Evidence Questioned in Execution: Police Memos Contradict Chemist's Forensic Testimony at a 1982 Oklahoma City Murder Trial (by Henry Weinstein - Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2001)
Jeffrey David Matthews - Executed 2011 - See article here
SOUTH CAROLINA (1)
Only 14-years-old, straight-A student George Stinney, Jr. became the youngest person in recorded U.S. history to be executed (1944). That was nearly 70 years ago in Alcolu, South Carolina, and now attorneys in that state have requested a new trial in hopes of posthumously clearing the child’s name.
Police contended at the time that George, who was black, had confessed to the crime of murdering two young white girls, 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames. The supposed confession came after hours of harsh interrogation, without either of his parents or an attorney present. Reports claim police officers offered the young boy ice cream if he confessed to the murders. His “confession” was said to be verbal, and there is no written record of a confession.
“False confessions are a very real, contributing factor to innocents being sentenced to death,” said Rosalyn Park, The Advocates for Human Rights’ research director. “One study shows that false confessions constitute nearly 10 percent of the causes behind wrongful convictions.”
Source: The advocates Post - Was 14 years old innocent? (2013)
Police contended at the time that George, who was black, had confessed to the crime of murdering two young white girls, 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames. The supposed confession came after hours of harsh interrogation, without either of his parents or an attorney present. Reports claim police officers offered the young boy ice cream if he confessed to the murders. His “confession” was said to be verbal, and there is no written record of a confession.
“False confessions are a very real, contributing factor to innocents being sentenced to death,” said Rosalyn Park, The Advocates for Human Rights’ research director. “One study shows that false confessions constitute nearly 10 percent of the causes behind wrongful convictions.”
Source: The advocates Post - Was 14 years old innocent? (2013)
Tennessee (1)
Philip Workman (1 June 1953 – 9 May 2007)
Workman was executed on May 9, 2007. He was convicted in 1982 for the murder of a police officer following a botched robbery of a restaurant in Tennessee, and sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Workman's guilt remains controversial and questionable. Five of the jurors that convicted Workman in 1982 have since signed affidavits renouncing either the sentence or the verdict or both. They cited subsequent medical investigation and ballistics evidence, unheard during the trial, that suggested the fatal shot was inconsistent with the bullets in Workman's gun and has suggested possible accidental shots from other officers, though no official confirming statement was filed. Additionally, one prosecution eyewitness was found to have lied in his testimony, and during trial it was found that officers had covered up details concerning shots fired at the shooting of the slain officer.
WATCH BELOW a collation of powerful testimonies from all sides including the daughter of the victim who believed Workman was innocent.
Workman was executed on May 9, 2007. He was convicted in 1982 for the murder of a police officer following a botched robbery of a restaurant in Tennessee, and sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Workman's guilt remains controversial and questionable. Five of the jurors that convicted Workman in 1982 have since signed affidavits renouncing either the sentence or the verdict or both. They cited subsequent medical investigation and ballistics evidence, unheard during the trial, that suggested the fatal shot was inconsistent with the bullets in Workman's gun and has suggested possible accidental shots from other officers, though no official confirming statement was filed. Additionally, one prosecution eyewitness was found to have lied in his testimony, and during trial it was found that officers had covered up details concerning shots fired at the shooting of the slain officer.
WATCH BELOW a collation of powerful testimonies from all sides including the daughter of the victim who believed Workman was innocent.
TEXAS (15)
Texas: Carlos Del Luna: Executed in 1989
(Source: DPIC) Carlos DeLuna (March 15, 1962 – December 7, 1989) was an American man who was convicted of murder and executed by the State of Texas for the killing of a 24-year-old gas station attendant on the evening of February 4, 1983. Since DeLuna's execution by lethal injection in 1989, doubts have been raised about the conviction and the question of his guilt. A Chicago Tribune investigation released in 2006 revealed groundbreaking evidence that Texas may have executed an innocent man in 1989. New evidence uncovered by reporters Maurice Possley and Steve Mills casts doubt on DeLuna’s guilt and points towards another man, Carlos Hernandez, who had a record of similar crimes and repeatedly confessed to the murder. A news piece aired on ABC’s "World News Tonight” also covered this story. An investigation published by the Columbia Human Rights Law Review in May 2012 has strengthened these claims of innocence by detailing a large amount of evidence suggesting the actual murderer was Carlos Hernandez, a similar-looking man who lived in a nearby neighborhood. See Professor James Liebman's investigation, "Los Tocayos Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution" (2012) See the Chicago Tribune's Investigation, "Did This Man Die...for This Man's Crime?" READ - Law Columbia university report |
Texas: Ruben Cantu. Convicted: 1985, executed: 1993
(Source: DPIC) A two-part investigative series by the Houston Chronicle casts serious doubt on the guilt of a Texas man who was executed in 1993. Ruben Cantu had persistently proclaimed his innocence and was only 17 when he was charged with capital murder for the shooting death of a San Antonio man during an attempted robbery. Now, the prosecutor and the jury forewoman have expressed doubts about the case. Moreover, both a key eyewitness in the state's case against Cantu and Cantu's co-defendant have come forward to say that Texas executed an innocent man. Read "Did Texas Execute An Innocent Man?" by Lise Olsen, Houston Chronicle (2005) Watch "Did Texas Execute Innocent Men?" - Dan Rather Reports reveals new details surrounding two capital murder cases in Texas - leading to the executions of Ruben Cantu and Carlos De Luna that may have occurred as the result of flawed evidence (September 2007). UPDATE: Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed issued a report in 2007 finding that Ruben Cantu was guilty of the crime for which Texas executed him in 1993. However, critics have noted that Reed was formerly a judge who handled Cantu's appeal and set his execution date, raising a conflict of interest in conducing an investigation of his guilt. For more information see: "Report Fails to Erase Doubt that Texas Executed an Innocent Man." |
Cameron Willingham, Texas Convicted: 1992, Executed: 2004
(Source: DPIC, Innocence Project)
After examining evidence from the capital prosecution of Cameron Willingham, four national arson experts have concluded that the original investigation of Willingham's case was flawed, and it is possible the fire was accidental. The independent investigation, reported by the Chicago Tribune, found that prosecutors and arson investigators used arson theories that have since been repudiated by scientific advances. Willingham was executed in 2004 in Texas despite his consistent claims of innocence. He was convicted of murdering his three children in a 1991 house fire. Arson expert Gerald Hurst said, "There's nothing to suggest to any reasonable arson investigator that this was an arson fire. It was just a fire." Former Louisiana State University fire instructor Kendall Ryland added, "[It] made me sick to think this guy was executed based on this investigation.... They executed this guy and they've just got no idea - at least not scientifically - if he set the fire, or if the fire was even intentionally set."
Willingham was convicted of capital murder after arson investigators concluded that 20 indicators of arson led them to believe that an accelerent had been used to set three separate fires inside his home. Among the only other evidence presented by prosecutors during the the trial was testimony from jailhouse snitch Johnny E. Webb, a drug addict on psychiatric medication, who claimed Willingham had confessed to him in the county jail.
Some of the jurors who convicted Willingham were troubled when told of the new case review. Juror Dorinda Brokofsky asked, "Did anybody know about this prior to his execution? Now I will have to live with this for the rest of my life. Maybe this man was innocent." Prior to the execution, Willingham's defense attorneys presented expert testimony regarding the new arson investigation to the state's highest court, as well as to Texas Governor Rick Perry. No relief was granted and Willingham was executed on February 17, 2004. Coincidentally, less than a year after Willingham's execution, arson evidence presented by some of the same experts who had appealed for relief in Willingham's case helped free Ernest Willis from Texas's death row. The experts noted that the evidence in the Willingham case was nearly identical to the evidence used to exonerate Willis. (Chicago Tribune, December 9, 2004).
Follow the campaign asking for pardon on his website
Read "Texas Man Executed on Disproved Forensics" by Steve Mills and Maurice Possley, Chicago Tribune (December 9, 2004)
Read "Was an Innocent Man Executed in Texas?" by Anderson Cooper 360 Blog (April 9, 2007)
Read Report by the Innocence Project
Read "Trial by Fire", by David Grann, New Yorker, 2009
See also The Ernest Willis Case
GET all factual information on the Cameron Todd Willingham case by the Innocence Project
(Source: DPIC, Innocence Project)
After examining evidence from the capital prosecution of Cameron Willingham, four national arson experts have concluded that the original investigation of Willingham's case was flawed, and it is possible the fire was accidental. The independent investigation, reported by the Chicago Tribune, found that prosecutors and arson investigators used arson theories that have since been repudiated by scientific advances. Willingham was executed in 2004 in Texas despite his consistent claims of innocence. He was convicted of murdering his three children in a 1991 house fire. Arson expert Gerald Hurst said, "There's nothing to suggest to any reasonable arson investigator that this was an arson fire. It was just a fire." Former Louisiana State University fire instructor Kendall Ryland added, "[It] made me sick to think this guy was executed based on this investigation.... They executed this guy and they've just got no idea - at least not scientifically - if he set the fire, or if the fire was even intentionally set."
Willingham was convicted of capital murder after arson investigators concluded that 20 indicators of arson led them to believe that an accelerent had been used to set three separate fires inside his home. Among the only other evidence presented by prosecutors during the the trial was testimony from jailhouse snitch Johnny E. Webb, a drug addict on psychiatric medication, who claimed Willingham had confessed to him in the county jail.
Some of the jurors who convicted Willingham were troubled when told of the new case review. Juror Dorinda Brokofsky asked, "Did anybody know about this prior to his execution? Now I will have to live with this for the rest of my life. Maybe this man was innocent." Prior to the execution, Willingham's defense attorneys presented expert testimony regarding the new arson investigation to the state's highest court, as well as to Texas Governor Rick Perry. No relief was granted and Willingham was executed on February 17, 2004. Coincidentally, less than a year after Willingham's execution, arson evidence presented by some of the same experts who had appealed for relief in Willingham's case helped free Ernest Willis from Texas's death row. The experts noted that the evidence in the Willingham case was nearly identical to the evidence used to exonerate Willis. (Chicago Tribune, December 9, 2004).
Follow the campaign asking for pardon on his website
Read "Texas Man Executed on Disproved Forensics" by Steve Mills and Maurice Possley, Chicago Tribune (December 9, 2004)
Read "Was an Innocent Man Executed in Texas?" by Anderson Cooper 360 Blog (April 9, 2007)
Read Report by the Innocence Project
Read "Trial by Fire", by David Grann, New Yorker, 2009
See also The Ernest Willis Case
GET all factual information on the Cameron Todd Willingham case by the Innocence Project
Odell Barnes, Jr. (executed March 1st, 2000)
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly and Lutte Pour la Justice, Grassroot Investigation project) Barnes was convicted in 1990 for the murder of Helen Bass. Eye-witnesses were harassed by police into retracting and changing their testimony, one of them stating that Odell was seen running from the scene of the crime at 10.30pm when in fact the victim was still at work until 11.30 the same night. The case presented much evidence of police interference and corruption of witnesses, of racial bias in the selection of jurors, and intimidation of defense lawyers. READ - justicedenied.org/odell.htm The Wrong Man -- The Odell Barnes Affair Case account by Michaël Charlton, Philip Wischkaemper and Gary Taylor, Attorneys (Source: Justice Denied) -- Also: The NY Times, 2000 I'd like to send great love to all my family members, my supporters, my attorneys. They have all supported me throughout this. I thank you for proving my innocence, although it has not been acknowledged by the courts. May you continue in the struggle and may you change all that's being done here today and in the past. Life has not been that good to me, but I believe that now, after meeting so many people who support me in this, that all things will come to an end, and may this be fruit of better judgements for the future. That's all I have to say. |
WATCH the testimonies of Odell Barnes' legal team before his execution
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READ (In French) La Machine a tuer, de Colette Berthes, who tried to help save the life of Odell Barnes Click and download to read in French 
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James Beathard Executed 12/9/99
(Source: New York Times, 2000) James Lee Beathard received the death sentence for his role in the 1984 murder of Gene Hathorn Sr., 45, his wife, Linda Sue, 34, and their 14-year-old son, Marcus, while they were watching television in their mobile home outside Groveton, a small town in East Texas. There was no physical evidence to link Mr. Beathard to the crime -- no fingerprints, no footprints, no blood. Sixteen years after the Beathard trial, Mr. Price, the prosecutor, is still uncertain about what happened on the night of the crime. "I'll be honest with you," he said, talking in his office in Groveton. "I've vacillated on that one over the years." Read more |
Robert Nelson Drew (Source: Cases of possible innocence, Capital Defence Weekly Grassroot Investigation project) [4] Robert Nelson Drew (Texas) Drew and another man were accused of murder. The second accused, Ernest Puralewski, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 60 years' imprisonment. Puralewski later came forward with a signed affidavit in which he stated that he alone had been responsible for the crime: "I am the person who murdered Jeffrey Mays and Robert Drew is innocent." Robert Drew's lawyers sought a new hearing so that this late evidence could be considered on its merits, but their requests were turned down.Case of plausible innocence |
Leonel Herrera (Texas)
Herrera presented affidavits and exculpatory polygraph results from a variety of witnesses, including an eyewitness to the murder and a former Texas state judge, both of whom stated that someone else had committed the crime. However, the Supreme Court ruled that innocence alone does not justify a federal hearing on this evidence nor was federal habeas relief available for mere innocence. |
David Castillo - Executed 9/23/98
(Source: New York Times)
Clarencio Champion was stabbed in a robbery of the Party House Liquor Store on North Texas Avenue in Mercedes, Tex. The injuries were not fatal, however, and he was recovering in the hospital, when, a week after the stabbing, he suddenly developed an infection and a high fever, and died. It turned out that during surgery, a nine-inch clamp had been left in Mr. Champion's stomach; Mr. Champion's widow eventually sued the doctor and the hospital for malpractice.
But under Texas law, the person who set the events in motion that led to Mr. Champion's death could be prosecuted for capital murder, and that helped convict David Castillo, an 18-year-old high school dropout from Illinois, who had drifted down to South Texas. During Mr. Castillo's trial, the doctor testified that the leaving of the clamp inside Mr. Champion had been for the best because, he said, it prompted him to go back in and clean the wound.
There was no direct evidence linking Mr. Castillo to the crime.
Rob Owen, a death penalty appellate lawyer with the Austin firm Schonemann, Roundtree & Owen, said that an adequate investigation would have required $5,000 to $10,000. It took the jury half an hour to vote the death sentence for Mr. Castillo, a sentence that Mr. Sutton, the Bush adviser, said was fair and supported by the case record.
READ more - A Closer Look at Five Cases That Resulted in Executions of Texas InmatesBy RAYMOND BONNER and SARA RIMER
Published: May 14, 2000
(Source: New York Times)
Clarencio Champion was stabbed in a robbery of the Party House Liquor Store on North Texas Avenue in Mercedes, Tex. The injuries were not fatal, however, and he was recovering in the hospital, when, a week after the stabbing, he suddenly developed an infection and a high fever, and died. It turned out that during surgery, a nine-inch clamp had been left in Mr. Champion's stomach; Mr. Champion's widow eventually sued the doctor and the hospital for malpractice.
But under Texas law, the person who set the events in motion that led to Mr. Champion's death could be prosecuted for capital murder, and that helped convict David Castillo, an 18-year-old high school dropout from Illinois, who had drifted down to South Texas. During Mr. Castillo's trial, the doctor testified that the leaving of the clamp inside Mr. Champion had been for the best because, he said, it prompted him to go back in and clean the wound.
There was no direct evidence linking Mr. Castillo to the crime.
Rob Owen, a death penalty appellate lawyer with the Austin firm Schonemann, Roundtree & Owen, said that an adequate investigation would have required $5,000 to $10,000. It took the jury half an hour to vote the death sentence for Mr. Castillo, a sentence that Mr. Sutton, the Bush adviser, said was fair and supported by the case record.
READ more - A Closer Look at Five Cases That Resulted in Executions of Texas InmatesBy RAYMOND BONNER and SARA RIMER
Published: May 14, 2000
David Stoker (Texas ) (Source: Capital Defence Weekly) Stoker was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of David Manrrique. Of the three witness who testified against Stoker one has recanted his testimony (Thompson), one, a small time drug dealer, had charges dismissed for his corroboration (Todd) and the third, described by acquittances at the time as a "methamphetamine whore" who was given money for her testimony. The prosecution denied the existence of deal and cash for testimony until well after the trial and went so far as to testify under oath that neither existed. The prosecution witness, Thompson, who recanted his testimony has stated he testified against Stoker because the prosecutor had threatened him with a perjury conviction. Witness Todd had instigated the prosecution of Stoker by providing police with the murder weapon. Todd was the key witness, without whom, the state had no case. Todd himself was seen by two witnesses in possession of the pistol around the time of the murder. As one federal court of appeals judge noted during oral argument, in the final analysis it is just as likely that Todd committed the crime as it is that Stoker did. |
Richard Wayne Jones
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly; Grassroot Investigation project) Jones was convicted of abducting, robbing, and then murdering Tammy Livingston on February 19, 1986. After 12 hours of interrogation and 21 hours in custody without food or sleep, during which the threatened Jones and his pregnant girlfriend with the death penalty if he did not confess, Jones confessed. Three eyewitnesses to the abduction provided a description of the suspect as a clean-cut, white male with reddish-brown hair, who was wearing a red shirt the night of the murder. Jones had blonde hair, a mustache, and was wearing a brown and gray plaid shirt the night of the murder. According to Jones, his sister admitted to him that she and her boyfriend, Walt Sellers, committed the crimes. Despite the bloodiness of the murder, only two small spots of blood were found on Jones's jeans, and no blood was found on his shirt. From the time he was arrested, Jones maintained that Sellers was the actual killer. Two witnesses gave sworn statements that they heard Sellers implicate himself in the murder. Witnesses corroborated Jones's testimony that Sellers had tried to sell items belonging to the victim. Jones had an IQ of 75 and was considered borderline retarded. DNA testing was requested and denied prior to execution. Eyewitnesses tended to exculpate him. |
Troy Farris
(Source: NY Times, 2000) Executed 1/13/99 Three weeks before Christmas, a young deputy sheriff, Clark Rosenbalm Jr., was murdered, shot twice with a Magnum .357, when he chanced upon a drug deal, on an isolated road outside Fort Worth. Troy Dale Farris, who was part of the deal, was convicted of the murder, but the manner in which the investigation and trial were conducted left many uneasy, including a remarkable number of members of the parole board. The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that ''the circumstantial and forensic evidence offered at trial not only failed to connect'' Mr. Farris with the murder, but it ''also failed in nearly all material respects to confirm the testimony'' of the two key witnesses against Mr. Farris. The case bothered members of the parole board more than just about any other that has come before them during Mr. Bush's tenure. Seven members voted for some form of clemency, either commutation or a 30-day reprieve. Read more |
Gary Graham Texas
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly, strong cases of innocence; Grassroot Investigation project) Convicted 1981, Executed: 2000 On June 23, 2000, Gary Graham was executed in Texas, despite claims that he was innocent. Graham was 17 when he was charged with the 1981 robbery and shooting of Bobby Lambert outside a Houston supermarket. He was convicted primarily on the testimony of one witness, Bernadine Skillern, who said she saw the killer's face for a few seconds through her car windshield, from a distance of 30-40 feet away. Two other witnesses, both who worked at the grocery store and said they got a good look at the assailant, said Graham was not the killer but were never interviewed by Graham's court appointed attorney, Ronald Mock, and were not called to testify at trial. Three of the jurors who voted to convict Graham signed affidavits saying they would have voted differently had all of the evidence been available. READ MORE - "Guilt of Texas Inmate Gary Graham Debated as Execution Draws Near" by CNN (June 21, 2000) Read "Death Row Man Executed" by BBC News (June 23, 2000) Read NY Times Irreversible Error in Texas See DPIC's Capital Punishment in Context: The Case of Gary Graham |
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Johny Franck Garrett
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Claude Jones - Convicted 1989 Executed 2000
Recent DNA tests raise serious doubts about the conviction of a man executed in Texas in 2000. The tests revealed that a strand of hair found at the scene of a liquor-store shooting did not belong to Claude Jones, as was originally implied by the prosecution. Instead, the hair belonged to the victim. Jones was executed for the murder of the store's owner. The strand of hair was the only piece of physical evidence that placed Jones at the scene of the crime, and this revelation raises the question of whether Texas executed the wrong person for the murder. Before his execution in 2000, Jones’s lawyers filed petitions for a stay with both a district court and with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, requesting that the strand of hair be submitted for DNA testing. The necessary DNA technology had not been developed at the time the crime in 1989, but was available in 2000. Both courts, along with then-Governor George W. Bush, denied Jones a stay of execution. Apparently, Gov. Bush was not even informed by his clemency advisors about the request for the DNA test. Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, said “The DNA results prove that testimony about the hair sample on which this entire case rests was just wrong. Unreliable forensic science and a completely inadequate post-conviction review process cost Claude Jones his life.” In 2007, the Innocence Project, along with the Texas Observer, the Innocence Project of Texas and the Texas Innocence Network filed a lawsuit to obtain the hair for DNA testing. This year, Judge Paul Murphy ruled in favor of the Observer and the innocence groups and ordered prosecutors to turn over the evidence for DNA testing. Duane Jones, Claude Jones’s son, said, “Knowing that these DNA results support his innocence means so much to me, my son in the military and the rest of my family. I hope these results will serve as a wakeup call to everyone that serious problems exist in the criminal justice system that must be fixed if our society is to continue using the death penalty.” Jones was one of the last inmates executed before Gov. Bush left office to become President. READ - DNA Tests Undermine Evidence in Texas Execution New results show Claude Jones was put to death on flawed evidence. by Dave Mann Published on Thursday, November 11, 2010 |
David Spence
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly and NY Times) Spence, the prosecution argued, committed triple murder at the direction of Muneer Deeb, who the state claimed was a drug dealer. Deeb allegedly wanted several people dead and then presented evidence that linked the targets of the murder for hire to Deeb. The prosecution than argued that Spence killed the wrong people because he mistook them for the intended target. Someone other than Spence, Terry Harper, confessed to the crime on four separate occasions to four separate people including at least twice prior to the bodies being found. [fn 2] Under Texas evidentiary law at the time of trial the confession of a person not charged with the crime for which the accused is inadmissible and therefore the prosecution did not have to turn over the evidence. Following the trial, many, if not most, of the prosecution's jailhouse informants came forwarded and admitted either perjuring themselves or receiving some form of restitution for their testimony. Deeb, the person who supposedly hired Spence to do the killing, had his capital conviction reversed on appeal unrelated to innocence. At Deeb's new trial much of the evidence unearthed by Spence's legal team was used to obtain Deeb an exoneration.* Read "A Closer Look at Five Cases That Resulted in Executions of Texas Inmates" by Raymond Bonner and Sara Rimer, New York Times (May 14, 2000) |
Frank Basil McFarland
(Source: Capital Defence Weekly; Grassroot Investigation project) McFarland was convicted and executed for killing Terry Hokanson. The state withheld evidence regarding the victim's dying declarations at the crime scene: Three boys found her and two of these boys spoke with her. The one who did not was the only one to testify at trial. The two boys who spoke with the victim gave sworn oral statements and written statements just after the murder that were suppressed by the state and discovered seven years later through a Freedom of Information request. All three boys saw a white car in the area; only one testified and he mentioned a white car. Six state witnesses (5 police officers and one police dispatcher) testified that the boys said they saw a blue car.. McFarland's car was blue. DNA testing by an FBI specialist on hair found in the victim's hands was inconsistent with that of McFarland or his co-defendant. Semen found with the victim was consistent with McFarland and 6% of the Caucasian population in the U.S. The state's star witness had warrants out for his arrest for parole violation. The victim knew McFarland previous to the murder; she did not name him before she died, bolstering the defense position that her assailants were unknown to her. |
Greg Wright
WATCH this last minute call from a supporter explaining that Greg Wright was cleared of murder through DNA testing and calling on everybody to help save his life.
More on Freegregwright.com
WATCH this last minute call from a supporter explaining that Greg Wright was cleared of murder through DNA testing and calling on everybody to help save his life.
More on Freegregwright.com
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Greg Wright's last words
Wright again proclaimed his innocence in his last statement at his execution, when asked if he had anything to say:
"Yes I do. There has been a lot of confusion on who done this. I know you all want closure. Donna had her Christianity in tact when she died. She never went to a drug house. John Adams lied. He went to the police and told them a story. He made deals and sold stuff to keep from going to prison. I left the house, and I left him there. My only act or involvement was not telling on him. John Adams is the one that killed Donna Vick. I took a polygraph and passed. John Adams never volunteered to take one. I have done everything in my power. Donna Vick helped me; she took me off the street. I was a truck driver; my CDL was still active. Donna gave me everything I could ask for. I helped her around the yard. I helped her around the house. She asked if there were anyone else to help. I am a Christian myself, so I told her about John Adams. We picked him up at a dope house. I did not know he was a career criminal. When we got to the house he was jonesin for drugs. He has to go to Dallas. I was in the bathroom when he attacked. I am deaf in one ear and I thought the T.V. was up too loud. I ran in to the bedroom. By the time I came in, when I tried to help her, with first aid, it was too late. The veins were cut on her throat. He stabbed her in her heart, and that's what killed her. I told John Adams, "turn yourself in or hit the high road." I owed him a favor because he pulled someone off my back. I was in a fight downtown. Two or three days later he turned on me. I have done everything to prove my innocence. Before you is an innocent man. I love my family. I'll be waiting on ya'll. I'm finished talking."
(Source: Texas Moratorium network)
Wright again proclaimed his innocence in his last statement at his execution, when asked if he had anything to say:
"Yes I do. There has been a lot of confusion on who done this. I know you all want closure. Donna had her Christianity in tact when she died. She never went to a drug house. John Adams lied. He went to the police and told them a story. He made deals and sold stuff to keep from going to prison. I left the house, and I left him there. My only act or involvement was not telling on him. John Adams is the one that killed Donna Vick. I took a polygraph and passed. John Adams never volunteered to take one. I have done everything in my power. Donna Vick helped me; she took me off the street. I was a truck driver; my CDL was still active. Donna gave me everything I could ask for. I helped her around the yard. I helped her around the house. She asked if there were anyone else to help. I am a Christian myself, so I told her about John Adams. We picked him up at a dope house. I did not know he was a career criminal. When we got to the house he was jonesin for drugs. He has to go to Dallas. I was in the bathroom when he attacked. I am deaf in one ear and I thought the T.V. was up too loud. I ran in to the bedroom. By the time I came in, when I tried to help her, with first aid, it was too late. The veins were cut on her throat. He stabbed her in her heart, and that's what killed her. I told John Adams, "turn yourself in or hit the high road." I owed him a favor because he pulled someone off my back. I was in a fight downtown. Two or three days later he turned on me. I have done everything to prove my innocence. Before you is an innocent man. I love my family. I'll be waiting on ya'll. I'm finished talking."
(Source: Texas Moratorium network)
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Other cases in Texas listed (29)
(Source: Center of wrongful convictions) Charles Anthony Boyd (Texas) Clyde Coleman (Texas) James Otto Earhart (Texas) Lionel Torres Herrera (Texas) Jerry Lee Hogue (Texas) Jesse Jacobs (Texas) Carl Johnson (Texas) Richard Wayne Jones (Texas) Davis Losada (Texas) Robert Madden (Texas) Justin Lee May (Texas) Charles Rector (Texas) Kenneth Ray Ransom (Texas) David Stoker (Texas) Martin Vega (Texas) Others Christopher Coleman(Executed 2009) Cary Kerr Preston Hughes III Charles Anthony Nealy Kenny Parr Steven Woods Joseph Burns (Executed in July 2010) |
According to Capital Defence weekly (possible cases of innocence not investigated) Johnny Anderson (Texas) Carl Johnson (Texas) Losada Davis(Texas) Mack Hill (Texas) Billy Hughes (Texas) Tommy Ray Jackson (Texas) Eddie Johnson (Texas) Richard Jones (Texas) Stacey Lawton(Texas) Thomas Mason (Texas) Paul Nuncio (Texas) Kenneth Ransom (Texas) Martin Sauceda Vega (Texas) Anthony Westley (Texas) |
Utah (1)
Joe Hill (Executed in Utah, 1915)
Hill’s status as a labor icon and the debate about his conviction certainly never died. And now a new biography makes the strongest case yet that Hill was wrongfully convicted of murdering a local grocer, the charge that led to his execution at age 36.
The book’s author, William M. Adler, argues that Hill was a victim of authorities and a jury eager to deal a blow to his radical labor union, as well as his own desire to protect the identity of his sweetheart.
A Salt Lake City jury convicted Hill largely because of one piece of circumstantial evidence: he had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest on the same night — Jan. 10, 1914 — that the grocer and his son were killed. At the trial, prosecutors argued that he had been shot by the grocer’s son, and Hill refused to offer any alternative explanation.
Mr. Adler uncovered a long-forgotten letter from Hill’s sweetheart that said that he had been shot by a rival for her affections, undermining the prosecution’s key assertion. The book, “The Man Who Never Died,” also offers extensive evidence suggesting that an early suspect in the case, a violent career criminal, was the murderer.
READ more: NY Times Article: Examining a Labor Hero's death: August 26th, 2011
Hill’s status as a labor icon and the debate about his conviction certainly never died. And now a new biography makes the strongest case yet that Hill was wrongfully convicted of murdering a local grocer, the charge that led to his execution at age 36.
The book’s author, William M. Adler, argues that Hill was a victim of authorities and a jury eager to deal a blow to his radical labor union, as well as his own desire to protect the identity of his sweetheart.
A Salt Lake City jury convicted Hill largely because of one piece of circumstantial evidence: he had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest on the same night — Jan. 10, 1914 — that the grocer and his son were killed. At the trial, prosecutors argued that he had been shot by the grocer’s son, and Hill refused to offer any alternative explanation.
Mr. Adler uncovered a long-forgotten letter from Hill’s sweetheart that said that he had been shot by a rival for her affections, undermining the prosecution’s key assertion. The book, “The Man Who Never Died,” also offers extensive evidence suggesting that an early suspect in the case, a violent career criminal, was the murderer.
READ more: NY Times Article: Examining a Labor Hero's death: August 26th, 2011
VIRGINIA (3 - possibly 4)
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Derek Rocco Barnabei
(Executed September 14th, 2000) (Case of plausible innocence, Capital defence Weekly) Barnabei was convicted and executed for the raping and murdering his girlfriend. The government argued Barnabei transported the victim's bloody body in his car but blood and other evidence not discovered in his car. Despite Barnabei's being sentenced to death, the Commonwealth of Virginia denied DNA testing of critical forensic evidence, including the victim's bloodstained fingernail clippings. Although the federal district court found on habeas corpus review that Barnabei's trial lawyer's work was woefully poor the court refused to order a new trial. This matter can be resolved with a quick $50 DNA test. |
Joseph O'Dell Virginia Conviction: 1986, Executed: 1997
(source DPIC and Capital Defence Weekly, plausible cases of Innocence) New DNA blood evidence has thrown considerable doubt on the murder and rape conviction of O'Dell. In reviewing his case in 1991, three Supreme Court Justices, said they had doubts about O'Dell's guilt and whether he should have been allowed to represent himself. Without the blood evidence, there is little linking O'Dell to the crime. In September, 1996, the 4th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated his death sentence and upheld his conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review O'Dell's claims of innocence and held that its decision regarding juries being told about the alternative sentence of life-without-parole was not retroactive to his case. O'Dell asked the state to conduct DNA tests on other pieces of evidence to demonstrate his innocence but was refused. He was executed on July 23rd. Read "Virginia Inmate Executed Despite International Campaign" by CNN (July 23, 1997) See "Commonwealth v. Joseph O'Dell: Truth and Justice or Confuse the Courts? The DNA Controversy"by Lori Urs, New England School of Law: Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement (Winter 1999) |
Wilbert Lee Evans - Executed October 17th, 1990 (not investigated - source: Capital Defence Weekly) READ: Virgina executed killer of deputy, New York Times, October 18, 1990 
Theresa Lewis (Executed 2010)
(Source: Internet) The first woman to die by lethal injection in the state of Virginia, Theresa Lewis was convicted of paying to have her husband and stepson murdered in 2002. Her case drew outcry, because testing had pegged Lewis' IQ at 72, just two points above that classified as intellectually disabled. Lewis' attorneys advised her to plead guilty in hopes of leniency, but she instead received the death penalty. The two hitmen who killed her husband and stepson received life sentences. Her supporters, among them legal novelist John Grisham, sent thousands of appeals for clemency to Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, to no avail. Lewis was executed on Sept. 23, 2010. |
