At a hearing on December 9, Kwame Ajamu (formerly Ronnie Bridgeman) was formally exonerated of the 1975 murder for which he was convicted and sentenced to death. Griffinâs conviction relied on the testimony of two jailhouse informants who received benefits in exchange for their testimony. South Carolina Conviction: 1979, Acquitted: 1981. In 2004, the Court unanimously voted to disbar Peasley, stating that his behavior âcould not have been more harmful to the justice system.â (Ibid.). In 1968, all four were convicted and Limone was sentenced to die in Massachusettsâ electric chair, but was spared in 1974 when Massachusetts abolished the death penalty and his sentence was commuted to life in prison. In July, 1994, the state Supreme Court overturned Cruzâs second conviction. Melendez lost another round of appeals in the mid 1990s. See a list of all of the additional exonerations here. John Thompson was sentenced to death in 1985 following his conviction for a New Orleans murder. This system is not perfect, but somehow it works itself out.â. Indeed, we find that the evidence here is equally consistent with a reasonable hypothesis of innocence.â Lindsey v. State, No. (Guerra v. Johnson, 90 F.3d 1075 (5th Cir. Fain, who was unemployed and living with his parents in Redmond, Oregon at the time of the crime, had lived in Idaho until June 1981. In April, Jonesâs new defense team filed an affidavit in which Lorden said, âMuch of what I testified to was simply not true.â She also stated that a detective coached her on what to say. Upon urging by the district attorney, the trial judge ordered a new trial. An appeals court reduced his sentence to life without parole. Thompson remained in jail under a sentence of life without parole. Ct. No. Dear Twitpic Community - thank you for all the wonderful photos you have taken over the years. Howard was pardoned by Governor Ryan, and subsequently removed from death row but remains incarcerated for an unrelated offense. ⦠No such mechanism of injury has ever been reported in any literature of child abuse or child assault.â Rather, Dr. Astrid Heger said, the internal injuries the toddler sustained were commonly seen in victims of automobile accidents. The robbery charge was reversed by the California Supreme Court in its 1988 ruling when the court overturned his sentence. On appeal, he was released by the Florida Supreme Court, which found that the evidence used to convict Scott was not sufficient to support a finding of guilt. In March, 1996, the U.S. District Court overturned his conviction, ruling that authorities never had probable cause to even arrest Gauger or to subject him to 21 hours of intensive questioning. Gauger was convicted of killing his parents in April, 1993. The Florida Supreme Court threw out Hayesâs conviction and the DNA evidence in 1995 (Hayes v. Florida, 660 So. Porter has since recanted his testimony, stating that he lied in order to get back at his cousin for stealing money from him. However, sophisticated DNA analysis of evidence from the crime scene did not match either defendant and the prosecution announced it was not prepared to go to trial. Nevertheless, the prosecutors tried Lawson again and again sought the death penalty. See also People v. Hawkins, et al., 181 Ill.2d 41 (January 29, 1998) (upholding a circuit courtâs reversal of Fieldsâ and Hawkinsâ convictions). The defense relied heavily on new DNA evidence from blood on the killerâs jacket, which the prosecutionâs expert admitted contained blood from the three victims and a fourth person who was not Wilson, suggesting the involvement of another assailant. His conviction was overturned when expert testimony concerning hair identification evidence was shown to be false. During oral argument, Associate California Supreme Court Justice Carol Corriganâa former prosecutorâdescribed the forensic testimony that Benavides had brutally raped and anally sodomized Consuelo as âamong the most hair-raising false evidence that Iâve encountered in all the time that Iâve been looking at criminal cases.â, Death row inmate Vicente Benavides released from custody Thursday after charges dismissed, The Bakersfield Californian, April 19, 2018, Jason Kotowski, Delano man whose murder conviction in death of 21-month-old girl was overturned last month will not be retried, April 17, 2018, Bakersfield Now Staff, Kern DA wonât retry overturned murder case, KMPH Fox 26, April 17, 2018. Ferber was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. Duplin County District Attorney Dewey Hudson decided to ask the judge in the case to drop all charges. In 1997, a federal appeals court overturned Williamsonâs conviction on the basis of ineffectiveness of counsel (Williamson v. Ward, 110 F.3d 1508 (10th Cir. UPDATE: Despite being exonerated in Illinois, Manning was being held in Missouri on a kidnapping conviction. Florida now requires a unanimous jury recommendation before a judge can impose a death sentence. Most blood samples matched the two victims, and Samatha Williams’s DNA was found on eight bloodstains collected from four different roomsâincluding in the bathroom where the state had argued at trial that the killer would have cleaned up. (Decatur Daily, 5/27/01 and Washington Post, 5/28/01). (Kansas City Star, February 27, 2000). Results of those tests not only excluded Fain, but pointed to two other suspects. The state alleged kidnapping or rape as aggravating factors, and House was sentenced to death. White later recanted his testimony, saying that prosecutors had met with him several times before Williamsâ and Wilsonâs trials and provided him with fabricated information for his testimony. Florida Conviction: 1988, Acquitted: 1991. Read âThe Stigma is Always There,â by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times. Yarris gave investigators a wrong name, believing he could blame the murder on a dead associate. (See also, K. Perry, ââ85 Murder Conviction Dismissed,â Cincinnati Post, Mar. Kitchen was reunited with his sons, one of whom was born while he was in prison, and his family. The prosecution also concealed evidence that linked two other suspects to the murders and subsequently lost or destroyed 47 latent fingerprints and 15 unknown hairs recovered from the scene that did not match Lee, preventing Leeâs post-conviction lawyers from examining this exculpatory physical evidence to identify the actual perpetrators. See a list of all of the additional exonerations here. Prosecutors accused Wright of murdering Paula OâConnerâa white woman with whom he had an affairâand their 15-month-old son Alijah supposedly to âavoid a child support obligation and ⦠maintain a âbachelor lifestyle.ââ The court noted that ânone of the evidence presented at trial directly tied Wright to the murdersâ and that the victimâs young-adult daughter, who had a volatile relationship with the victim, also had a financial motive, having received more than $500,000 in life insurance benefits as a result of her motherâs and half-brotherâs deaths. Crim. Prosecutors originally offered him a plea bargain whereby he would serve as little as 10 years in prison, but he refused because he was innocent. (Id. (New York Times, August 24, 2001), Florida â Conviction: 1984, Charges Dismissed: 2002, \In 1984, a jury convicted Juan Melendez, then 33, of killing Delbart Baker and leaving him on the floor of his beauty school in Auburndale, FL. Mississippi Conviction: 1984, Acquitted: 1985. The Philadelphia DAâs office agreed that Johnsonâs conviction should be overturned but stipulated to its reversal in April 2015 based only âon ineffective assistance of counsel at the guilty-innocence phase of trial.â Prosecutors insisted at the time of the stipulation that Johnson âagree[ ] to withdraw all other claims ⦠including claims alleging prosecutorial misconduct of District Attorney Michael Barry.â, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on May 19, 2020 that the prosecutorial misconduct in the case violated the double jeopardy protections of the Pennsylvania constitution. During those 180 days, the State engaged in substantial inequitable conduct, wrongfully retaining and delaying the production of yet more potentially exculpatory evidence⦠To fail to bar retrial in such extraordinary circumstances surely would fail to serve the interests of justice.â. A trial court in Kern County, California formally dismissed all charges against Benavides, a Mexican national, two days after Kern District Attorney Lisa Green said her office would not be seeking a retrial. (Times-Picayune, May 9, 2003). (A. Cohen, âAfter 30 Years on Death Row, an Innocent Man in Louisiana is About to Go Free,â The Atlantic, March 11, 2014. (Milke v. Ryan, No. A state district judge dismissed the original indictments and the men were released after the murder weapon was traced to a drifter from South Carolina who admitted to the killing. Crim. âEdward has always maintained, and we have always believed in, his innocence,â said Goldsmith. In fact, Porter received thousands of dollars for his testimony. were convicted but before the trial of two other codefendants. North Carolina â Conviction: 1997, Charges Dismissed 1999. After the evidentiary hearing, the Los Angeles County Superior Court granted Morris a new trial. Munson was acquitted at a re-trial in April 1995. Manning was retried in 1993, but the case ended in a mistrial. Two years after his conviction, evidence surfaced that an undercover officer had secretly recorded Mr. McCormickâs confession during a fake car theft. Salvati, who was released from prison in 1997 when the governor commuted his sentence, received word from prosecutors that they were dropping the case against him as well. AP-75,954 & AP-75,955, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, June 25, 2008 at 3. In 1995, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously reversed Jimersonâs conviction, because Gray had been allowed to testify falsely about her bargain. Prosecutors at his conviction described him as a âcold brutal rapistâ who âshould never see the light of day.â (NY Times, May 19, 1999). Cruz was sentenced to death for the murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico. In 1990, the state Supreme Court reversed Smithâs first conviction and cast doubt on the prosecutionâs theory. Anthony The court found that Thompson was mildly retarded and had suffered head traumas that caused memory problems. Nicholson and Smith were shot in the head at close range inside Nicholsonâs apartment in 1996. They were arrested four years after the crime. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the evidence was insufficient to convict because it was based on uncorroborated accomplice testimony and ordered Cruz to be acquitted. The Mississippi Supreme Court then overturned that conviction, this time citing Evansâ discriminatory use of jury strikes against African Americans. (R. Olmeda, âJury finds Penalver not guilty in Caseyâs Nickelodeon triple murder case,â Sun Sentinel, Dec. 21, 2012). Finch was identified by an eyewitness, Lester Floyd Jones, in three suggestive police line-ups in which police had him wear a three-quarter length jacket that was the same style of clothing that a store employee had said the perpetrator was wearing. Macias was implicated by a co-worker, who in exchange for his testimony was not prosecuted for the murders, and from jail-house informants. However, in 2014 Illinois moved to dismiss charges against him, and he was ordered to be released. In 1986, Charles Tolliver was convicted and sentenced to death by an all-white jury for killing two men. Florida Conviction: 1971, Charges Dismissed: 1973. Sources: Man set free, The Marion Star, November 18, 1988. Charles was convicted on two counts of murder and sentenced to death. The witness was in fact incarcerated with one of a pair of brothers who were suspects in the case. In 1996, Dan L. Bright was convicted of first-degree murder in Louisiana and was sentenced to death. Jacksonâs death sentence was vacated earlier, and the Bridgeman brothersâ sentences were overturned when Ohioâs death penalty was found unconstitutional in 1978. Watch an interview with Ronald Williamson. However, secret tape recordings of the two menâs conversations, made at the request of the FBI, revealed no such confession, and Manning vehemently denied confessing. Jones was charged with the 1985 rape and murder of Debra Smith on Chicagoâs South Side (Chicago Tribune, May 18, 1999). The newly constituted jury began deliberations afresh and found Penalver not guilty of all charges. Macias was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a man during a burglary. (Boston Globe, May 21, 2004). Furthermore, Dr. Ralph Erdmann, the paleontologist who presented the forensic evidence at trial, was convicted of seven felony counts including the misrepresentation of facts in other cases and stripped of his license. On June 21, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Flowersâ conviction again based on Evansâ racially discriminatory jury selection practices. The blood evidence, which had been improperly withheld by the State, cleared Thompson of a robbery conviction. Ross, a black 16-year old, was convicted and sentenced to death for the rape of a white woman. After the trial, the chief eyewitness recanted her testimony. A white witness who worked near the crime scene told police she had seen a man run by after the murder and thought it could have been Browning, but when police asked if she could be âmore sureâ about whom she had seen, she said, âNo, I wouldnât think so. Texas â Conviction: 2005, Charges Dismissed: 2015. In May 2008, following a re-investigation of the case by the Collin County prosecutorâs office, District Attorney John Roach announced that in light of the results of advanced DNA testing and the absence of any other evidence linking him to the crime, Mr. Blairâs conviction could no longer be upheld. After two mistrials because of hung juries, Cobb and Williams were convicted and sentenced to death for the first degree robbery and murder of two white men in 1977. The absence of motive and the lack of a physical evidence connecting Cruz to the murders weighed heavily on jurors as they voted to acquit. Sources: State v. McCrimmon, 187 Ariz. 169, 927 P.2d 1298 (1996); State v. Minnitt, 203 Ariz. 431, 55 P.3d 774 (2002). The prosecutor in the case, Arthur Jean, Jr., now a L.A. Country Superior Court Judge, withheld from the defense that West was given special treatment in light of his testimony. (Butler v. State, 608 So.2d 314 (Miss. Stack is one of 11 additional exonerations discovered by DPIC in 2021 during its research of all modern-era death sentences. The reinvestigation of the case cost more than $500,000, an expense shared by the defense and prosecution. Other law enforcement officials also protested the continued efforts to prosecute Cruz. Read âLife After Death Row,â by Sara Rimer inThe New York Times Magazine, Read âA Broken System: Earl Washington, Jr.,â by The Justice Project, Pennsylvania â Conviction: 1994, Acquitted: 2000. In August 2002, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction, stating that the trial court committed reversible error by excluding evidence of another suspect. The medical records reflected that the injuries to Consueloâs genitalia and anus that the prosecution expert had attributed to sexual assault were actually a product of unsuccessful medical intervention, including repeated failed efforts to insert a catheter and the improper use of an adult-sized catheter on the small child. Wash. 1994)). Only one black juror served on the sixth jury in 2010 â again prosecuted by Evans â and Flowers was sentenced to death a fourth time in that trial. ⦠Iâm sorry this man was on death row for so long and that there were so many lost years.â (Los Angeles Times, October 7, 2004). The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed his conviction and sentence because the saturation media coverage required a change of venue: âIn a very real sense Fisherâs guilt was announced by the news media of Meridian, Mississippi, loudly and long before a Lauderdale County jury was ever impaneled to hear the case. During Erwinâs trial, the court failed to compel the testimony of a witness who was subpoenaed for trial but did not appear in court. SC03-1012, Feb. 23, 2006). at 345). R. Hussain, âMan formerly on death row acquitted in retrial,â Chicago Sun-Times, April 8, 2009. 99-312, 10th Judicial Dist., McMinn Cty., May 28, 2008). In fact, since 1976 the Florida Supreme Court has acquitted only three people of all charges. I see a cognitive therapist one day a week to help me regain my time management, my executive function, my ability to tell time, logic, visual scanning. All three defenÂdants were senÂtenced to death. Read âWhen the Evidence Lies,â by Belinda Luscombe in Time Magazine, Louisiana Conviction: 1984, Charges Dismissed: 1998. Despite limited evidence, Willis was indicted for murder and arson. (Apr. 1977)). Pennsylvania â Conviction: 2006, Charges Dismissed: 2020. The unit issued its report, authored by Conviction Integrity Review Director Shelley Thibodeau, in February. The case was remanded to the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, where Judge Harry Mattice vacated Houseâs conviction and sentence, but allowed Tennessee to pursue a new trial against him. Alabama â Conviction: 1985 Charges Dismissed: 2015, Anthony Ray Hinton was exonerated after spending nearly 30 years on Alabamaâs death row. Deeb was originally sentenced to death for allegedly contracting with three hitmen to kill his ex-girlfriend. Sat: 10am - 6pm ET. Both The lead arm (left for an orthodox fighter and right for a southpaw) is placed across the torso usually somewhere in between the belly button and chest and the lead hand rests on the opposite side of the fighter's torso. The trial judge imposed a death sentence for the conviction following a 7-5 vote by the jury to recommend death. (DâAmbrosio v. Bagley, No. The Clerk of the Cobb Superior Court has certified that Creamer alone was originally sentenced to death. (M. Gillispie, ââJudge disÂmissÂes two men charged in 1975 slayÂing,â Associated Press, November 21, 2014. Shareef Cousin was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Alred Michael Gerardi in a holdup outside a French Quarter restaurant. A federal District Court had first overturned DâAmbrosioâs conviction in 2006 because the state had withheld key evidence from the defense. It is now believed that the baby may have died either of cystic kidney disease or from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). 1989) and The Dallas Morning News, 10/25/90). The two men who were convicted of committing the killing remain on death row. L. Falkenberg, Mother of 3 pressured into changing story, but jailed anyway, Houston Chronicle, July 7, 2014. No physical or biological evidence linked either man to the murder, but they were convicted based upon confessions they have long said were coerced by Guevara over the course of three days of interrogation in which they were denied their right to consular assistance by the Mexican government, deprived of sleep, and given little food or drink until they falsely implicated themselves. Oklahoma Convicted: 1983, Acquitted: 1988. AG wonât appeal ruling lifting death penalty, Daily Report June 10, 2008. An injustice was done and we will try to do better. See a list of all of the additional exonerations here. Larry Osborne, at one time the youngest man on Kentuckyâs death row, was freed after a jury acquitted him in a second trial of murdering an 82-year old man and his 76-year old wife in 1997. Bonnie Erwin was sentenced to death in Smith County, Texas in 1985. (Clemmons v. Delo, 124 F.3d 944 (8th Cir. The court noted that Myers had âchang[ed] his story in material respects at least three timesâ and that a newly discovered witness, who knew both Myers and Johnson, had seen three individualsâone of whom was Myers and none of whom was Johnsonâfleeing the murder scene. Wallace was convicted and sentenced to death for the slaying of a police officer, despite his claim that the shooting was accidental and that he was acting in self-defense because he was beaten by the officers. (News and Observer, February 18, 2004), Read âTime of Death: A Murder Mystery,â by Joseph Neff in The News and Observer, Read âGells Files Suit Over Prosecution,â by Joseph Neff in The News and Observer, Illinois â Conviction: 1987, Charges Dismissed: 2004. He returned to Idaho in March of 1982 to look for work. After the verdict had been read, the judge conducted a poll of the jurors to ensure they all agreed with the verdict. Sun: 11am - 7pm ET Brandley was awarded a new trial when evidence showed prosecutorial suppression of exculpatory evidence and perjury by prosecution witnesses. Fain agreed, and those samples were the key evidence against him in his trial. Massachusetts Conviction: 1971, Charges Dismissed: 1982. (B. Farrington, âSupreme Court throws out conviction in â87 killing,â see Dausch v. Florida Associated Press, June 12, 2014. Padgettâs brothers, children and other relatives burst into tears when the foreman read the not guilty verdict. (Arizona v. McCrimmon/Minnitt, 927 P.2d 1298 (1996)). Yarris was found guilty, and sent to death row. He recanted a few hours later and claimed his confession was coerced. Illinois â Conviction: 1993, Charges Dismissed: 2000. The judge noted, âGiven the weakness of the prosecutionâs case and its heavy reliance on the testimony of Lovely Lorden, there is a reasonable probability that, but for counselâs unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.â. Although no physical evidence linked them to the deaths of two white men, Lee and Pittsâ guilty pleas, the testimony of an alleged eyewitness, and incompetent defense counsel led to their convictions. (Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, 7/17/97). Alford is one of 11 additional exonerations discovered by DPIC in 2021 during its research of all modern-era death sentences. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals overturned that verdict in 2001, stating that the judge in Quickâs second trial was indeed wrong to deny Quick a free copy of the transcript from the previous mistrial in light of his indigent status (Quick v. State, 825 So. In 1999, Wilsonâs death sentence was overturned on state post-conviction review when a trial-level court determined that his defense counsel had failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence during his original trial. Anthony Careyâs conviction relied primarily on the Ohio â Conviction: 1989, Charges dismissed: 2012, On January 23, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by the state of Ohio challenging the unconditional writ of habeas corpus and bar to the re-prosecution of Joe DâAmbrosio (pictured), thus ending the capital case. (Ex Parte Brandley, 781 S.W.2d 886 (Tex. Two other co-defendants, Andre Minnitt and Martin Soto-Fong, were also sentenced to death for the same crime. The judge noted, âGiven the weakness of the prosecutionâs case and its heavy reliance on the testimony of Lovely Lorden, there is a reasonable probability that, but for counselâs unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.â UPDATE: The man who confessed to the murders, Alstory Simon, eventually pled guilty and was serving a 37-year sentence. âCourt Dismisses Ashleyâs Killer, cites DNA Test,â Associated Press, The Houston Chronicle, September 17, 2008; Ex Parte Michael Nawee Blair, Nos. Yes. Guerra was sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in Houston. CC1985-3363, 10th Judic. He has been waiting for his new trial since in 2004, when allegations of prosecutorial misconduct first arose. In 1987, this conviction was vacated because of the trial courtâs refusal to issue a writ of attachment to secure the witnessâs testimony. Florida â Conviction: 1999, Acquitted: 2012. Vann was originally convicted and sentenced to death in 1994 for a sexual assault and murder of his own daughter, Necia Vann, in 1992. One of the witnesses against him said at trial that police had helped her make up her story. Jeb Bush. On appeal, Adams was ordered to be released pending a new trial by the Texas Court of Appeals. See a list of all of the newly added exonerations here. As a result, Fields and co-defendant Earl Hawkins were granted new trials in 1998. Thomas Mesereau, a member of Quickâs defense team, said Quick should have never been on Death Row and that justice was served with his acquittal because âthe truth finally came out.â (Birmingham News, April 22, 2003). At his second trial in 1999, he was convicted and sentenced to death. In March 2003, Matthewsâ attorneys had the physical evidence (including a ski mask) re-tested. (Illinois v. Manning (695 N.E.2d 423 (1998) and Chicago Tribune, 1/19/00). The affidavits also stated that jurors brought newspapers with articles about the case into the jury room and that they repeatedly violated the trial courtâs sequestration order. The prosecution withheld statements that contradicted Howellâs testimony and that would have undermined the prosecutionâs theory of how the victim died, and would have pointed to other possible suspects for the murder. However, at Fieldsâ retrial, Judge Vincent Gaughan found Hawkins âincredible,â saying that âIf someone has such disregard for human life, what regard will he have for his oath?â, Fields spent almost twenty years in prison, including 11.5 years on death row. (The Gadsden Times, 10/3/97). Florida â Conviction: 2013, Acquitted: 2015. In his statement, Howard also admitted that he ran to his girlfriendâs house after shooting Ridgell, which was a short distance from the crime scene. Illinois â Conviction: 1986, Pardoned: 2003. During the re-trial, Greenâs attorneys challenged Thompsonâs competency. Olivia Neeley, Federal court rules in Finchâs favor, The Wilson Times, January 28, 2019. Judge Harris described the failings of Vannâs original attorneys as ânot only prejudicial, but disastrous.â (Id.)
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