Miscarriages of justice and the conviction of the innocent
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The death penalty is the only punishment that admits no correction. Every case of a person sentenced to death and later found innocent — through DNA evidence, a retracted testimony, a retrial — says something about all the cases in which the review did not arrive in time.
This page collects the news on miscarriages of justice, retrials and people cleared after a death sentence.
Latest news
MAY 27, 2020PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Federal Judge Christopher Conner overturned the murder conviction of Samuel Randolph
USA - Pennsylvania. Federal Judge Christopher Conner overturned the murder conviction of Samuel Randolph
MAY 20, 2020TaiwanDEATH PENALTYTAIWAN: AFTER 19 YEARS ON DEATH ROW, HSIEH CHIH-HUNG FREED
The High Court’s Tainan branch on 15 May 2020 overturned a death sentence on rape and murder charges against Hsieh Chih-hung based on new findings from the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office after it restarted the investigation.
MAY 20, 2020DEATH PENALTYMISSOURI (USA): WALTER BARTON EXECUTED
Walter Barton, 64, White, was put to death on 19 May 2020 for fatally stabbing Gladys Kuehler, an 81-year-old woman, on 9 October 1991, the first U.S. execution since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
- MAY 19, 2020MissouriDEATH PENALTY
USA - Missouri. Walter Barton, 64, White, was put to death
USA - Missouri. Walter Barton, 64, White, was put to death
MARCH 3, 2020PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Conviction Integrity Unit declares that Walter Ogrod is “likely innocent”
USA - Pennsylvania. Conviction Integrity Unit declares that Walter Ogrod is “likely innocent”
- JANUARY 7, 2020DEATH PENALTY
FLORIDA (USA): INMATE CLAIMS MAN ON DEATH ROW IS INNOCENT OF 1985 MURDER
James Dailey was convicted for the murder of 14-year-old Shelly Boggio out of Pinellas County, Florida, but another man says he is the killer.
JANUARY 1, 2020FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. The James Dailey Case
USA - Florida. The James Dailey Case
NOVEMBER 27, 2019MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: FEDERAL COURT ACQUITS AUSTRALIAN WOMAN FACING DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
An Australian woman sentenced to death for drug-trafficking in Malaysia was acquitted on 26 November 2019 after the Federal Court in Kuala Lumpur quashed her earlier conviction by a lower court.
OCTOBER 24, 2019DEATH PENALTYLOUISIANA (USA): ELVIS BROOKS RELEASED FROM STATE PENITENTIARY AFTER SPENDING 42 YEARS IN PRISON
Elvis Brooks was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on 16 October 2019.
- OCTOBER 16, 2019LouisianaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Louisiana. Elvis Brooks was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on October 16.
USA - Louisiana. Elvis Brooks was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on October 16.
JUNE 25, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: SENTENCED TO DEATH TWICE, MAN COMPENSATED AFTER 46 YEARS
A 82-year-old Vietnamese man has been compensated with VND6.7 billion ($287,500) for being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death.
APRIL 1, 2019DEATH PENALTYFLORIDA (USA): MAN AND NEPHEW WHO SPENT 42 YEARS IN PRISON CLEARED OF MURDER
After 43 years in prison, including 4 on death row, Clifford Williams has become Florida's 29th Death Row exoneration
- MARCH 28, 2019FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Clifford Williams exonerated.
USA - Florida. Clifford Williams exonerated.
- MARCH 6, 2019DEATH PENALTY
TEXAS (USA): ALFRED DEWAYNE BROWN DECLARED ACTUALLY INNOCENT
Death-row exoneree Alfred Dewayne Brown was declared “actually innocent” by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on March 1, 2019, making Brown eligible for state compensation for the time he spent wrongfully imprisoned on Texas’ death row.
- MARCH 4, 2019NebraskaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned the death sentence of Christopher Spreitz
USA - Arizona. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned the death sentence of Christopher Spreitz
- MARCH 1, 2019TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Alfred Dewayne Brown Declared Actually Innocent.
USA - Texas. Alfred Dewayne Brown Declared Actually Innocent.
JANUARY 15, 2019ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN COMPENSATED FOR WRONGFUL CONVICTION
A man who was acquitted after spending 25 years in prison in northeast China's Jilin Province was offered compensation from the state on 7 January 2019.
JANUARY 10, 2019DEATH PENALTYNETFLIX’S THE INNOCENT MAN: THE AMERICAN INJUSTICE SYSTEM
Netflix’s 6-episode documentary, The Innocent Man, is based on bestselling novelist John Grisham’s only non-fiction effort, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, published in 2006.
- JANUARY 5, 2019OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Netflix’s The Innocent Man: The American injustice system.
USA - Netflix’s The Innocent Man: The American injustice system.
- NOVEMBER 11, 2018United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Exonerations and Wrongful Convictions Harm Murder Victims’ Families, Too.
USA - Exonerations and Wrongful Convictions Harm Murder Victims’ Families, Too.
- MAY 13, 2017PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pennsylvania. James Dennis, 46, Black, has been released from prison
USA - Pennsylvania. James Dennis, 46, Black, has been released from prison
MAY 13, 2017DEATH PENALTYPENNSYLVANIA (USA): JAMES DENNIS RELEASED FROM PRISON
James Dennis, 46, Black, has been released from prison nearly 26 years after his wrongful capital conviction.
- MAY 3, 2017TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Former Prosecutor on Trial on Charges that His Misconduct Led to Wrongful Execution of Cameron Willingham.
USA - Texas. Former Prosecutor on Trial on Charges that His Misconduct Led to Wrongful Execution of Cameron Willingham.
MAY 3, 2017EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: CAIRO COURT EXONERATES MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN POST-MORSI VIOLENCE CASE
A Cairo criminal court has exonerated a man who had been previously sentenced to death on charges of involvement in deadly clashes in Giza's Omraniya district following the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
- APRIL 18, 2017FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Florida House unanimously apologizes to families of "Groveland Four"
USA - Florida. Florida House unanimously apologizes to families of "Groveland Four"
- DECEMBER 22, 2016PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pennsylvania. Two former Pennsylvania death row prisoners, Tyrone Moore and James Dennis, pled no contest to lesser charges.
USA - Pennsylvania. Two former Pennsylvania death row prisoners, Tyrone Moore and James Dennis, pled no contest to lesser charges.
DECEMBER 22, 2016DEATH PENALTYPENNSYLVANIA (USA): FIRST-DEGREE MURDER CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST TWO FORMER PENNSYLVANIA DEATH ROW PRISONERS WITH INNOCENCE CLAIMS
Two former Pennsylvania death row prisoners who have asserted their innocence for decades, Tyrone Moore and James Dennis, pled no contest to lesser charges.
DECEMBER 2, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: WRONGLY EXECUTED MAN ACQUITTED BY TOP COURT
Nie Shubin, who was executed 21 years ago for rape and murder, had his conviction overturned by China's top court.
- NOVEMBER 14, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - CNN: A comeback for the death penalty?
USA - CNN: A comeback for the death penalty?
NOVEMBER 14, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: A COMEBACK FOR THE DEATH PENALTY?
After years of declining use of the death penalty across the United States and declining public support for