This list contains names of people who were found guilty of capital crimes and placed on death row but later found to be wrongly convicted. Many of these exonerees' sentences were overturned by acquittal or pardon, but some of those listed were exonerated posthumously.[1] The state listed is that in which the conviction occurred, the year is that of release and the case is that which overturned the conviction.

This list does not include:

  1. Posthumous pardons for individuals executed before 1950.
  2. Inmates who were given life sentences when their country, province or state abolished the death penalty.
  3. People who were threatened with death and never jailed.
  4. People who were jailed by extralegal groups or courts, for example, as often occurs in cases of sentences of stoning.

Canada

India

Six men Ankush Maruti Shinde, Rajya Appa Shinde, Ambadas Laxman Shinde, Raju Mhasu Shinde, Bapu Appa Shinde and Suresh Shinde were convicted and sentenced to death penalty in 2009 on charges of rape and murder. On 6 March 2019, the Supreme Court of India acquitted all the six death-row convicts and proclaimed them innocent.[3][4]

In March 2023, the Supreme Court of India freed Niranaram Chetanram Chaudhary after he spent 28 years, six months and 23 days in custody, and was freed from Nagpur jail. At the time of conviction, Chaudhary was 12 years and six months. As per Indian laws, death sentence or any sentence more than three years cannot be awarded to a juvenile.[5]

Japan

1983

1989

Taiwan

2012

2016

United Kingdom

1966

1969

1973

1998

United States

As of February 2nd, 2024, the Innocence Database maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center shows 196 exonerations of prisoners on death row in the United States since 1973.[20]

1820s

1820

1850s

1851

1880s

1889

1890s

1895

1897

1898

1900s

1901

1902

1905

1910s

1911

1913

1915

1917

1918

1920s

1920

1928

1929

1930s

1930

1931

1933

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940s

1940

1942

1943

1945

1946

1948

1949

1950s

1951

1952

1953

1956

1957

1958

1960s

1962

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970s

1971

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980s

1980

1981

1982

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990s

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000s

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2007

2008

2009

2010s

2010

2011

2012

[231][232]

2013

2014

2015

2017[246]

2018[252]

2019

2020s

2020

2021

2023

See also

References

  1. ^ "Innocence: List of Those Freed from Death Row". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  2. ^ "Canada's wrongful convictions". Canadian Broadcasting Company. 6 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Supreme Court Acquits Six People on Death Row Who Spent 16 Years in Jail". The Wire. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  4. ^ "6 awarded death by SC in 2009, acquitted in 2019". The Times of India. 2019-03-06. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  5. ^ "Rajasthan: An error that sent Indian teen to death row for 25 years". 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  6. ^ a b Hernon, Matthew (11 December 2020). "The Life of Sakae Menda, the Man who Spent 34 Years in Prison for Crime He Didn't Commit".
  7. ^ McNeill, David; Mason, C.M. (August 4, 2007). "One who has lived to tell the tale". The Japan Times.
  8. ^ Furukawa, Yukina (January 19, 2019) "Former death row inmate expresses concerns about ex-boxer's retrial" Mainichi Shimbun.
  9. ^ Hirano, Keiji (November 6, 2014) "Freed death row prisoner brings new life to group fighting capital punishment". The Japan Times.
  10. ^ "Hsichih Trio acquitted as 20-year murder case finally closed". Want Chinese Times. 31 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Cheng Hsing-tse freed from death row". Taipei Times. 4 May 2016.
  12. ^ Mary Westlake v Criminal Cases Review Commission [2004] EWHC 2779 (Admin) (17 November 2004), High Court (England and Wales). It includes a segment from the Hansard transcript of Jenkins's decision to recommend a pardon in the House of Commons.
  13. ^ "Hanged man's pardon 'inadequate'". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 November 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  14. ^ Shakespeare, Andrew-Paul (2019-01-23). "Timothy Evans: An Innocent Man Hanged for Murder he did not Commit". Medium. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  15. ^ "MURDER (ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY)". Hansard, 16 December 1969.
  16. ^ "MURDER (ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY) ACT 1965". Hansard, 18 December 1969.
  17. ^ (10 October 2016) International Day against Death penalty European Commission, Memo 06/390, Press release, Retrieved 22 March 2015
  18. ^ "Open verdict on hanged man's son". BBC News. 22 October 2003.
  19. ^ "Court of Appeal judgment [1998] EWCA Crim 2516 (30 July 1998)". Bailii.org. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  20. ^ "Innocence Database".
  21. ^ "Jesse Boorn".
  22. ^ "Stephen Boorn".
  23. ^ "Thomas Berdue".
  24. ^ "William Woods".
  25. ^ "Michael Sabol".
  26. ^ "George Rusnak".
  27. ^ "William Jackson Marion".
  28. ^ "Will Purvis".
  29. ^ "Michael J. Synon".
  30. ^ "Henry Miller".
  31. ^ "Samuel Greason".
  32. ^ "David Sherman".
  33. ^ "Andrew Toth".
  34. ^ "Stearns Kendall Abbott".
  35. ^ "J.B. Brown".
  36. ^ "John McElwrath".
  37. ^ "Herman Zajicek".
  38. ^ "Charles Stielow".
  39. ^ "Frank Jordano".
  40. ^ "John Pender".
  41. ^ "George Williams".
  42. ^ "Fred Dove".
  43. ^ "Frank Dove".
  44. ^ "Joseph Weaver".
  45. ^ "Gangi Cero".
  46. ^ "Richard Phillips".
  47. ^ "William Harper".
  48. ^ "Harry Cashin".
  49. ^ "Edward Larkman".
  50. ^ "Gus Langley".
  51. ^ "Eugene Williams".
  52. ^ "Willie Roberson".
  53. ^ "Ozie Powell".
  54. ^ "Olen Montgomery".
  55. ^ "Ayliff Draper".
  56. ^ "Tom Jones".
  57. ^ "Thomas J. Mooney".
  58. ^ "George Bilger".
  59. ^ "Walter Woodward".
  60. ^ "Jack Williamson".
  61. ^ "Charlie Davis".
  62. ^ "William Wellmon".
  63. ^ "Charles Bernstein".
  64. ^ "Sidney Rudish".
  65. ^ "Morris Malinski".
  66. ^ "Lemuel Parrott".
  67. ^ "Clyde Beale".
  68. ^ "Horace Wilson".
  69. ^ "James Thorpe".
  70. ^ "John McKenzie".
  71. ^ "McKinley Forrest".
  72. ^ "Silas Rogers".
  73. ^ "George Lettrich".
  74. ^ "Camilo Leyra".
  75. ^ "L.D. Harris".
  76. ^ "Aaron Turner".
  77. ^ "Harry Dale Bundy".
  78. ^ "James Fulton Foster".
  79. ^ "Robert Lee Kidd".
  80. ^ "Isidore Zimmerman".
  81. ^ "Theodore Jordan".
  82. ^ "Robert Ballard Bailey".
  83. ^ "James Giles".
  84. ^ "John Giles".
  85. ^ "Joseph Johnson".
  86. ^ "Paul Kern Imbler".
  87. ^ "Lloyd Eldon Miller".
  88. ^ "Dave Roby Keaton".
  89. ^ "Anthony Carey".
  90. ^ sanderson04 (2016-01-22). "Freddie Lee Pitts (1937-2020)". witnesstoinnocence. Retrieved 2022-02-15.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  91. ^ "Clarence Smith, Jr".
  92. ^ "Ronald Keine".
  93. ^ "Richard Greer".
  94. ^ "Thomas Gladish".
  95. ^ "Christopher Spicer".
  96. ^ "James Creamer".
  97. ^ "Clarence Norris".
  98. ^ Tibbs, Delbert Lee (2001). "Studs Terkel: Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Center on Wrongful Convictions". Northwestern University School of Law. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  99. ^ "Exoneree, Center on Wrongful Convictions: Northwestern Pritzker School of Law". www.law.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  100. ^ "Delbert Tibbs".
  101. ^ "Earl Patrick Charles".
  102. ^ "Gary Radi".
  103. ^ "Gary Beeman".
  104. ^ "Jerry Banks".
  105. ^ "Larry Hicks".
  106. ^ "Michael Linder".
  107. ^ "Johnny Ross".
  108. ^ "Lawyer Johnson".
  109. ^ "Anthony Silah Brown".
  110. ^ "Neil Ferber".
  111. ^ "Clifford Henry Bowen".
  112. ^ "Former death row inmate now charged in wife's killing". Fox News. September 17, 2012
  113. ^ "Joseph "Shabaka" Green Brown". National Registry of Exonerations, University of California-Irvine.
  114. ^ [1].Chicago Tribune. November 13th, 2014
  115. ^ "Exoneree, Center on Wrongful Convictions: Northwestern Pritzker School of Law". www.law.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  116. ^ "Juan Ramos".
  117. ^ "Robert Wallace".
  118. ^ "Anthony Ray Peek".
  119. ^ "Larry Troy".
  120. ^ "Exoneree, Center on Wrongful Convictions: Northwestern Pritzker School of Law". www.law.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  121. ^ "James Joseph Richardson".
  122. ^ "Clarence Brandley".
  123. ^ "Dale Johnston".
  124. ^ "Gary Nelson".
  125. ^ "Charles Smith".
  126. ^ "Jay C. Smith".
  127. ^ Walter McMillian National Registry of Exonerations.
  128. ^ "Walter McMillian". Equal Justice Initiative. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  129. ^ a b Grisham, John (2006). The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. Doubleday Books
  130. ^ "Gregory Wilhoit".
  131. ^ "Kirk Bloodsworth".
  132. ^ "Muneer Deeb".
  133. ^ "Larry Hudson".
  134. ^ "Federico Macias".
  135. ^ "James Albert Robison".
  136. ^ "Andrew Golden".
  137. ^ "Bones linked to jailed hit man". derkeiler.com. March 29, 2007
  138. ^ "Robert Cruz".
  139. ^ "Rolando Cruz". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  140. ^ "Alejandro Hernandez". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  141. ^ "Sabrina Butler".
  142. ^ "Adolph Munson".
  143. ^ "Verneal Jimerson". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  144. ^ "Dennis Williams". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  145. ^ "Exoneree, Center on Wrongful Convictions: Northwestern Pritzker School of Law". www.law.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  146. ^ "Joseph Burrows".
  147. ^ "David Grannis".
  148. ^ "Troy Lee Jones".
  149. ^ "Carl Lawson".
  150. ^ "Roberto Miranda".
  151. ^ "Ricardo Aldape Guerra".
  152. ^ "Benjamin Harris".
  153. ^ "Christopher McCrimmon".
  154. ^ "Larry Randal Padgett".
  155. ^ "Curtis Kyles".
  156. ^ Getting Off Death Row, NPR, March 26, 2007
  157. ^ Cohen, Stanley (2003). The Wrong Men: America's Epidemic of Wrongful Death Row Convictions. Carroll & Graf Publishers. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7867-1258-8.
  158. ^ "Ronald Jones". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  159. ^ "Ronald Jones".
  160. ^ "Clarence Richard Dexter, Jr".
  161. ^ "Alfred Rivera".
  162. ^ "Steven Smith".
  163. ^ "Earl Washington". Innocence Project. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  164. ^ "Frank Lee Smith". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  165. ^ "Eric Clemmons".
  166. ^ "Hubert Geralds, Jr".
  167. ^ "Michael Graham".
  168. ^ "Joseph Green".
  169. ^ "Oscar Morris".
  170. ^ "William Nieves".
  171. ^ "Charles Irvin Fain". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  172. ^ "Albert Burrell".
  173. ^ "Gary Drinkard".
  174. ^ "Louis Greco".
  175. ^ "Peter Limone".
  176. ^ "Joaquin Jose Martinez".
  177. ^ "Donald Paradis".
  178. ^ "Henry Tameleo".
  179. ^ Chachere, Vickie: "Florida Death Row Inmate To Be Released After 17 Years", Associated Press, Jan 3, 2002
  180. ^ "Know the Cases: Browse Profiles: Ray Krone" Archived 2014-04-03 at the Library of Congress Web Archives. Innocence Project. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  181. ^ "Today Ray Krone Celebrates 17 Years of Freedom". Innocence Project. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  182. ^ "Thomas Kimbell".
  183. ^ "Andre Minnitt".
  184. ^ "Larry Osborne".
  185. ^ Pennsylvania v. Yarris, No 690-OF1982, Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County, September 3, 2003. Order vacating conviction.
  186. ^ Gross, Alexandra (10 July 2014). "JOHN THOMPSON". The National Registry of Exonerations. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  187. ^ "Joseph Amrine".
  188. ^ "Madison Hobley".
  189. ^ "Rudolph Holton".
  190. ^ "Stanley Howard".
  191. ^ "Timothy Howard".
  192. ^ "Gary Lamar James".
  193. ^ "Leroy Orange".
  194. ^ "Aaron Patterson".
  195. ^ "Lemuel Prion".
  196. ^ "Wesley Quick".
  197. ^ Joseph Neff (2004-12-19). "N.C. Prosecutors Stifled Evidence". The News & Observer. pp. A1.
  198. ^ Balleza, Maureen (October 8, 2004). "After 17 years on death row, Texas inmate walks free". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  199. ^ "Ryan Matthews". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  200. ^ "Laurence Adams".
  201. ^ "Dan L. Bright".
  202. ^ "Patrick Croy".
  203. ^ "Gordon Steidl".
  204. ^ "Derrick Jamison".
  205. ^ "Harold C. Wilson".
  206. ^ "Curtis McCarty". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  207. ^ "Jonathon Hoffman".
  208. ^ "Michael Lee McCormick".
  209. ^ "Kennedy Brewer". Innocence Project. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  210. ^ "Death Row Inmate Freed After 15 Years". WRAL-TV. April 2, 2008.
  211. ^ Linehan, Julie (September 3, 2013). "In justice system, back to business as usual" Archived 2014-03-13 at the Wayback Machine. The News & Observer.
  212. ^ Merchant, Nomaan (November 13, 2012). "Michael Blair, Texas Man Who Admitted Rape, Wrongly Imprisoned For Murder, Seeks Compensation". The Huffington Post.
  213. ^ Jennings, Diane (August 23, 2013). "Texas Supreme Court denies admitted child rapist Michael Blair compensation for wrongful conviction in Ashley Estell murder" Archived 2016-01-27 at the Wayback Machine. The Dallas Morning News.
  214. ^ Gross, Alexandra. "Michael Blair". National Registry of Exonerations. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  215. ^ "Judge won't declare ex-death row inmate innocent" Archived 2014-03-13 at the Wayback Machine. ABC 7 Chicago/Associated Press. March 5, 2014.
  216. ^ Grinberg, Emanuella (May 14, 2009). " Exonerated death row inmate: 'Took 'em long enough'". CNN.
  217. ^ Satterfield, Jamie (May 12, 2009). "Prosecutor drops charges; House's family 'on Cloud Nine'" Archived 2014-02-28 at the Wayback Machine. knoxnews.com.
  218. ^ McClain, Clarissa; Galloway, Drew (June 17, 2013). "The Top Stories from the Past 50 Years". WHNT 19 News.
  219. ^ Blakley, Derrick (September 5, 2013). "City Poised To Pay Another Police-Torture Settlement". CBS 2 Chicago.
  220. ^ "Michael Toney, Recently Exonerated from Death Row in Texas, Dies in Car Crash". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  221. ^ "Yancy Douglas".
  222. ^ "Paris Powell".
  223. ^ "Robert Springsteen".
  224. ^ Rogers, Brian (October 27, 2010). "Texas sets man free from death row". Houston Chronicle.
  225. ^ "Recently Cleared Tennessee Inmate Added to List of Exonerations". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  226. ^ Robertson, Campbell (August 19, 2011). "Deal Frees 'West Memphis Three' in Arkansas". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  227. ^ Blackmon, Douglas A. (September 28, 2012). "Louisiana death-row inmate Damon Thibodeaux exonerated with DNA evidence". The Washington Post.
  228. ^ "Michael Keenan freed, murder charge from 24 years ago dismissed by Cuyahoga County judge (Photo gallery)". June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  229. ^ "Former death row inmate acquitted; released from jail". Local 10.com. Miami. December 22, 2012.
  230. ^ "Joe D'Ambrosio".
  231. ^ Oliphint, Joel (20 September 2017). "Delayed Justice: The Dale Johnston case". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  232. ^ "Wrongly convicted Ohio man, 81, says death row was 'hell on earth'". The Guardian. 2015-03-11. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  233. ^ "INNOCENCE: Another Exoneration from Death Row--Reginald Griffin of Missouri". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  234. ^ Bever, Lindsey (March 12, 2014). "After nearly 30 years on death row, Glenn Ford is exonerated — and free". The Washington Post.
  235. ^ "State Supreme Court throws out death row inmate's conviction for 1987 killing". Tampa Bay Times. June 13, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  236. ^ "Half-brothers to go free after convictions overturned in 1983 murder". WRAL. September 2, 2014.
  237. ^ "Ricky Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman: Exonerated friends leave prison after 39 years behind bars". cleveland.com. November 21, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  238. ^ "Kwame Ajamu".
  239. ^ Hastings, Deborah (2014-12-17). "Black teen executed in S.C. has conviction overturned". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  240. ^ "Debra Milke, Who Spent 22 Years On Death Row, Has Murder Case Thrown Out". The Huffington Post. March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  241. ^ "Alabama exonerates man who spent 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center. April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  242. ^ Nave, R. L. (2015-04-22). "DA Dropping Charges Against Willie Jerome Manning in One Set of Murders". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  243. ^ Balko, Radley (2015-06-10). "Texas death row inmate Alfred Dewayne Brown is released from prison". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  244. ^ "William Lee". National Registry of Exonerations. Michigan State University College of Law. 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  245. ^ "Supreme Court vacates death sentence of Pasco man convicted in Land O'Lakes murder". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  246. ^ "Innocence Database". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  247. ^ Jedra, Christina. "Former Delaware death row inmate: I was convicted of murder, exonerated, and wrongfully accused again". The News Journal. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  248. ^ "He spent five years on death row. Now the charges have been dropped". NBC News. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  249. ^ "Supreme Court orders Ralph Wright Jr. to be acquitted of 2007 St. Pete killings". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  250. ^ "Former Arkansas death row inmate freed after 16 years in custody; charges dropped in mutilation case". Arkansas Online. 2017-10-12. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  251. ^ "Robert Miller". Innocence Project. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  252. ^ "Innocence Database". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  253. ^ Tchekmedyian, Alene (2019-06-26). "Vicente Benavides spent 25 years on death row. Now he's suing over 'false evidence'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  254. ^ Williams, Michael (23 November 2018). "Exonerated from death row, freedom is a 'beautiful dream' for Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin". orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  255. ^ "Nevada Court Orders Man's Release from Death Row Due to Prosecutorial Misconduct and Inadequate Defense". Equal Justice Initiative. September 19, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  256. ^ The National Registry of Exonerations Clifford Williams Jr.
  257. ^ For 42 years, two Florida men were imprisoned for murder. Now, they're free after the state tosses the case. CNN, March 29, 2019
  258. ^ The National Registry of Exonerations Charles Finch
  259. ^ "Christopher Williams".
  260. ^ "Robert Duboise".
  261. ^ "Curtis Flowers".
  262. ^ "Kareem Johnson".
  263. ^ "Roderick Johnson".
  264. ^ "Walter Ogrod".
  265. ^ "Sherwood Brown".
  266. ^ "Eddie Lee Howard, Jr".
  267. ^ "Barry Williams".
  268. ^ Jiménez, Jesus (2023-12-20). "Man Cleared of Murder After More Than 48 Years in Prison". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  269. ^ Alfonseca, Kiara (September 20, 2023). "Man formerly on death row gets murder case dismissed after 48 years". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-12-21.

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