Since the nineties, and particularly since the beginning of the new millenium, new innocence cases emerge all the time and at a speeded rate. This traces to the development of communications, the internet, as well as the progress in forensics, such as DNA testing. In total, we have listed over 40 people who were executed, despite maintyaining their innocence. Their lawyer, their supporters, or they family members serious believed in their innocence. Here below are three examples, which have been consistently refered to as strong cases of innocence. For more information, please go to our Executed but innocent? section. Here are 3 emblematic examples.
Carlos Del Luna (Executed in 1989)
Carlos DeLuna (March 15, 1962 – December 7, 1989) 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, 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 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 Comumbia 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
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
Cameron Todd Willingham (Executed in 2004)
Cameron Todd Willingham (January 9, 1968 – February 17, 2004) was convicted of murdering his three young children by arson at the family home in Corsicana, Texas on December 23, 1991. He was executed in 2004.
Willingham's case gained renewed attention in 2009 when an investigative report by David Grann in The New Yorker, drawing upon arson investigation experts and advances in fire science since the 1992 investigation, suggested that the evidence for arson was unconvincing and, had this information been available at the time of trial, would have provided grounds for Willingham's acquittal.
According to an August 2009 investigative report by an expert hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission, the original claims of arson were doubtful. The Corsicana Fire Department disputes the findings, stating that the report overlooked several key points in the record.The case has been further complicated by allegations that Texas Governor Rick Perry impeded the investigation by replacing three of the nine commission members in an attempt to change the commission's findings; Perry denies the allegations.
To date, even the prosecutor at trial admits the foundation of his case is now undermined, and that the technique that was used to determine, was flawed. Until his last day, Cameron Todd Willingh may have had not only to endure daily the pain of losing accidently his children in a fire, but also to cope with the idea of being executed for a crime that he did not commit.
Follow the campaign asking for pardon on his website
Read "Texas Man Executed on Disproved Forensics" by S. Mills and M.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
Willingham's case gained renewed attention in 2009 when an investigative report by David Grann in The New Yorker, drawing upon arson investigation experts and advances in fire science since the 1992 investigation, suggested that the evidence for arson was unconvincing and, had this information been available at the time of trial, would have provided grounds for Willingham's acquittal.
According to an August 2009 investigative report by an expert hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission, the original claims of arson were doubtful. The Corsicana Fire Department disputes the findings, stating that the report overlooked several key points in the record.The case has been further complicated by allegations that Texas Governor Rick Perry impeded the investigation by replacing three of the nine commission members in an attempt to change the commission's findings; Perry denies the allegations.
To date, even the prosecutor at trial admits the foundation of his case is now undermined, and that the technique that was used to determine, was flawed. Until his last day, Cameron Todd Willingh may have had not only to endure daily the pain of losing accidently his children in a fire, but also to cope with the idea of being executed for a crime that he did not commit.
Follow the campaign asking for pardon on his website
Read "Texas Man Executed on Disproved Forensics" by S. Mills and M.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
Troy Davis (Executed in 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.
The Troy Davis case has had the most massive media coverage of all time.