Innocence Cases: 1984 -1993

1985

23. Larry Fisher Mississippi Conviction: 1984, Acquitted: 1985
Larry Fisher was charged with the rape and murder of an 18-year-old high school student in Meridian Mississippi in 1983. A series of similar crimes had occurred in the same area and the pre-trial media coverage of the case was extensive. Fisher asked for a change of venue but was denied. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1984. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed his conviction and sentence because the saturation media coverage required a change of venue: "In a very real sense Fisher’s 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. By this he was denied his right to a fair trial before the trial began." (Fisher v. Mississippi, 481 So.2d 203, 206 (1985)). Fisher was re-tried two months later in a different county and was acquitted of all charges. (See Fisher v. Mississippi, 532 So.2d 992, 994 (1988) (upholding his conviction in a different case)). Fisher remained incarcerated because of a separate rape conviction.

1986

*24. Anthony Brown Florida Conviction: 1983, Acquitted: 1986
Brown was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death despite a jury recommendation of life imprisonment. At trial, the only evidence against Brown was a co-defendant who was sentenced to life for his part in the crime. At retrial, the co-defendant admitted that his testimony at the first trial had been perjured, and Brown was acquitted. (Brown v. State, 471 So.2d 6 (Fla. 1985)).
Read "The Other 13 Survivors..." by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Time

25. Neil Ferber Pennsylvania Conviction: 1982, Charges Dismissed: 1986 *
Ferber was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. Upon urging by the district attorney, the trial judge ordered a new trial. The charges against Ferber were dropped prior to the retrial when evidence surfaced that the conviction was based on the perjured testimony of a jail-house informant, exculpatory evidence was not disclosed to the defense, and an eyewitness to the crime was positive that Ferber was not the man she saw. Several other prosecutors and a homicide detective were convinced of Ferber's innocence. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8/18/96).

26. Clifford Henry Bowen Oklahoma Conviction: 1981, Charges Dismissed: 1986
Bowen was incarcerated in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary under three death sentences for over five years when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit finally overturned his conviction in 1986. The Court held that prosecutors in the case failed to disclose information about another suspect, Lee Crowe, and that had the defense known of the Crowe materials, the result of the trial would probably have been different. Crowe resembled Bowen, had greater motive, no alibi, and habitually carried the same gun and unusual ammunition as the murder weapon. Bowen, on the other hand, maintained his innocence, provided twelve alibi witnesses to confirm that he was 300 miles from the crime scene just one hour prior to the crime, and could not be linked by any physical evidence to the crime. (Bowen v. Maynard, 799 F.2d 593 (10th Cir. 1986) and Oklahoma Publishing Co., 7/31/87).
Read "Cowboy Bob..." by Ken Armstrong in The Chicago Tribune

1987

27. Joseph Green Brown Florida Conviction: 1974, Charges Dismissed: 1987
Charges were dropped after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the prosecution had knowingly allowed false testimony to be introduced at trial. Brown was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on the testimony of Ronald Floyd, a co-conspirator who claimed he heard Brown confess to the murder. Floyd later retracted and admitted his testimony was lie. Brown came within 13 hours of execution when a new trial was ordered. Brown was released a year later when the state decided not to retry the case. (Brown v. Wainwright, 785 F.2d 1457 (11th Cir. 1986); Los Angeles Times, 5/10/87; and Charlotte Observer, 3/8/87).
Read "Yes, I'm Angry..." by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times
Read "Fourteen Years..." by George Anderson in America Magazine

28. Perry Cobb Illinois Conviction: 1979, Acquitted: 1987
29. Darby (Williams) Tillis Illinois Conviction: 1979, Acquitted: 1987
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. In 1983, the State Supreme Court reversed the convictions, and after several retrials where an assistant state attorney testified that the government's key witness, Phyllis Santini, had told him that her boyfriend actually committed the murders, Cobb and Williams were acquitted and released. (People v. Cobb, 455 N.E.2d 31 (Ill. 1983) and Chicago Tribune, 1/21/87).
Read "The Snitch System" by Northwestern University School of Law Center on Wrongful Conviction
Read "A Broken System: Darby Tillis and Perry Cobb" by The Justice Project

*30. Vernon McManus Texas Conviction: 1977, Charges Dismissed: 1987
After a new trial was ordered, the prosecution dropped the charges when a key prosecution witness refused to testify.

31. Anthony Ray Peek Florida Conviction: 1978, Acquitted: 1987*
Peek was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, despite witnesses who supported his alibi. His conviction was overturned when expert testimony concerning hair identification evidence was shown to be false. He was acquitted at his third retrial. (Peek v. State, 488 So.2d 52 (Fla. 1986)).
Read "The Other 13 Survivors..." by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times

32. Juan Ramos Florida Conviction: 1983, Acquitted: 1987
Despite a jury recommendation of life in prison, Juan Ramos was sentenced to death for rape and murder. No physical evidence linked Ramos to the victim or the scene of the crime. The Florida Supreme Court granted Ramos a new trial because of the prosecution's improper use of evidence. At retrial, Ramos was acquitted. (Ramos v. State, 496 So.2d 121 (Fla. 1986) and St. Petersburg Times, 7/9/99).
Read "Freed From Death Row" by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times

33. Robert Wallace Georgia Conviction 1980 Acquitted 1987 *
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. The 11th Circuit ordered a retrial because Wallace had not been competent to stand trial. He was acquitted at the retrial because it was found that the shooting was accidental. (Wallace v. Kemp, 757 F.2d 1102 (1985) and Associated Press, 6/18/87).

1988

*34. Richard Neal Jones Oklahoma Convicted 1983 Acquitted 1988
Jones was sentenced to death in Oklahoma in 1983. Jones maintains that he was passed out while his three co-defendants murdered Charles Keene. On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma remanded the case for retrial. The Court held the jury was prejudiced by the improper admission of hearsay testimony and inflammatory photographs. The Court also agreed with Jones' assertion that the case should be remanded on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct. Moreover, the Court held, the case was not one in which Jones' guilt was "overwhelming" and that Jones' involvement was disputed by the evidence. (Jones v. State, 738 P.2d 525 (Okla. crim. app. 1987) and Oklahoma Publishing Co., 1/18/88).

35. Willie Brown Florida Conviction: 1983, Charges Dismissed: 1988
36. Larry Troy Florida Conviction: 1983, Charges Dismissed: 1988
Brown and Troy were sentenced to death after being accused of fatally stabbing a fellow prisoner. The main witness against them was Frank Wise, whose original statements exonerated the men. Pending retrial, the charges against the men were dropped when Wise admitted that he had perjured himself. (Brown v. State, 515 So.2d 211 (Fla. 1987).
Read "The Other 13 Survivors..." by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Time

1989

37. Randall Dale Adams Texas Conviction: 1977, Charges Dismissed: 1989
Adams was convicted of killing a Dallas Police officer and sentenced to death. After the murder David Harris was arrested for the murder when it was learned that he was bragging about it. Harris, however, claimed that Adams was the killer. Adams trial lawyer was a real estate attorney and the key government witnesses against Adams were Harris and other witnesses who were never subject to cross examination because they disappeared the next day. On appeal, Adams was ordered to be released pending a new trial by the Texas Court of Appeals. The prosecutors did not seek a new trial due to substantial evidence of Adam's innocence. Adams case is the subject of the movie, The Thin Blue Line. (Ex Parte Adams, 768 S.W.2d 281 (Tex. Crim App. 1989), Time, 4/3/89, and ABA Journal, 7/89).
See "Randall Dale Adams" by Journey of Hope

 *38. Robert Cox Florida Conviction 1988 Charges Dismissed 1989
Cox was convicted and sentenced to death, despite evidence that Cox did not know the victim and no one testified that they had been seen together. In 1989, Cox was released by a unanimous decision of the Florida Supreme Court that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. (Cox v. State, 555 So.2d 352 (Fla. 1989)).
Read "The Other 13 Survivors..." by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times

39. Timothy Hennis North Carolina Conviction: 1986, Acquitted: 1989
Hennis, a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army was convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to death. The testimony of the primary witnesses against him were later described by the State Supreme Court as "tenuous" and "extremely tentative." Hennis was granted a retrial because of the inappropriate use of inflammatory evidence by the prosecution. At the retrial, Hennis was acquitted when the defense discredited the witnesses and demonstrated that a neighbor who resembled Hennis could have been the murderer. (State v. Hennis, 372 S.E.2d 523 (N.C. 1988)

40. James Richardson Florida Conviction: 1968, Acquitted:1989
Richardson was convicted and sentenced to death for the poisoning of one of his children. The prosecution argued that Richardson committed the crime to obtain insurance money, despite the fact that no such policy existed. The primary witnesses against Richardson were two jail-house snitches whom Richardson was said to have confessed to. Post-conviction investigation found that the neighbor who was caring for Richardson's children had a prior homicide conviction, and the defense provided affidavits from people to whom he had confessed. Richardson's conviction was overturned after further investigation by then-Dade County State Attorney General Janet Reno, which resulted in a new hearing. (Richardson v. State, 546 So.2d 1037 (1989).
Read "Life After Death Row" by Sara Rimer in The New York Times Magazine

Read "Life After Death Row" by Sara Rimer in The New York Times Magazine
Watch an interview with James Richardson
Read "The Other 13 Survivors..." by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Time

1990

41. Clarence Brandley Texas Conviction: 1981, Charges Dismissed: 1990
Brandley was awarded a new trial when evidence showed prosecutorial suppression of exculpatory evidence and perjury by prosecution witnesses. An investigation by the Department of Justice and the FBI uncovered more misconduct, and in 1989 a new trial was granted. Prior to the new trial, all of the charges against Brandley were dropped. Brandley is the subject of the book White Lies by Nick Davies. (Ex Parte Brandley, 781 S.W.2d 886 (Tex. Crim App. 1989),The Dallas Times Herald, 10/2/90, and Washington Post, 2/1/95).

*42. John C. Skelton Texas Conviction 1983 Acquitted 1990
Despite several witnesses who testified that he was 800 miles from the scene of the murder, Skelton was convicted and sentenced to death for killing a man by exploding dynamite in his pickup truck. The evidence against him was purely circumstantial and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that it was insufficient to support a guilty verdict. The Court reversed the conviction and entered a directed verdict of acquittal. (Skelton v. State, 795 S.W.2d 162 (Tex. Crim. App. 1989) and The Dallas Morning News, 10/25/90).

43. Dale Johnston Ohio Conviction: 1984, Charges Dismissed: 1990
Johnston was sentenced to death for the murder of his stepdaughter and her fiancee. His conviction was overturned in 1988 by the Ohio Supreme Court because the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense, and because one witness had been hypnotized. The state later dropped charges against Johnston. (State v. Johnson, 529 N.E.2d 898 (Ohio 1988)).

*44. Jimmy Lee Mathers Arizona Convicted 1987 Acquitted 1990
Jimmy Lee Mathers was convicted of first degree murder in 1987 and sentenced to death along with two co-defendants. At trial, Mathers moved for a judgment of acquittal at the close of the prosecution's case, maintaining that the state had not presented evidence sufficient to support a conviction. The motion was denied, and all three men were found guilty and sentenced to death. Mathers' case was reviewed by the Arizona Supreme Court in 1990, and viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the Court found that there was a complete absence of probative facts to support Mathers' conviction. The Court stated that most of the evidence presented at trial had "nothing to do with Mathers" and noted that even the trial judge expressed doubt as to whether Mathers was involved in the crime. The Court set aside Mathers' conviction and sentence and entered a judgment of acquittal. (State v. Mathers, 796 P.2d 866 (Ariz. 1990)) One of Mathers' co-defendants, Theodore Washington, has raised a similar claim about the insufficiency of the evidence against him, but remains on death row.

1991

45. Gary Nelson Georgia Conviction 1980 Charges Dismissed 1991 *
Nelson was released after a review of the prosecutor's files revealed that material information had been improperly withheld from the defense. The county district attorney acknowledged: "There is no material element of the state's case in the original trial which has not subsequently been determined to be impeached or contradicted." (Nelson v. Zant, 405 S.E.2d 250 (Ga. 1991) and The Atlanta Journal, 11/7/91).

46. Bradley P. Scott Florida Conviction: 1988, Acquitted: 1991
Scott was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. His arrest came ten years after the crime, when the evidence corroborating his alibi had been lost. Scott was convicted on the testimony of witnesses whose identifications had been plagued with inconsistencies. 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. (Scott v. State, 581 So.2d 887 (Fla. 1991)).

Read Court TV's Interview with Bradley Scott
Read "We Don't Look Back" by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times

47. Charles Smith Indiana Conviction: 1983, Acquitted: 1991 *
Smith was sentenced to death for a street robbery and murder of a woman. The man who claimed to be the getaway driver had his charges dropped in exchange for testifying against Smith. The Indiana Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1989 because of ineffective assistance of counsel. (Smith v. State, 547 N.E.2d 817 (Ind. 1989). He was acquitted at his re-trial and released in 1991 after presenting evidence that witnesses against him had lied under oath. (information not available at time of DPIC's innocence report) (The Journal-Gazette (Indiana), 5/10/91 and Capitol Report, May/June 1991).

1992

48. Jay C. Smith Pennsylvania Conviction: 1986, Acquitted: 1992
Smith, a former high school principal, was convicted of the 1979 murder of 3 people, though his death sentence was later reduced to life. He was freed on Sept. 18, 1992 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the prosecution had withheld crucial evidence, calling the state's action "egregious" misconduct. (Commonwealth v. Smith, 615 A.2d 321 (Pa. 1992) and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 9/17/93).
Read "Court Frees Jay Smith" by Pete Shellem and Laird Leask in The Patriot News
Read "Author Paid Trooper Probing Reinert Case" by Pete Shellem and Laird Leask in The Patriot News
Read "Evidence Surfaces in Reinert Case" by Pete Shellem and Laird Leask in The Patriot News

1993

49. Kirk Bloodsworth Maryland Conviction: 1984, Charges Dismissed: 1993
Bloodswoth was convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a young girl. Despite alibi witnesses, he was convicted primarily on the basis of faulty eyewitness identification. When it was discovered that the state failed to disclose exculpatory evidence, Bloodsworth received a new trial, at which he was convicted and given a life sentence. He was released after subsequent DNA testing confirmed his innocence. (The Washington Post, 6/29/93).
Read "Life After Death Row" by Sara Rimer in The New York Times Magazine
Read "A Broken System: Kirk Bloodsworth" by The Justice Project

*50. Federico M. Macias Texas Conviction 1984 Charges Dismissed 1993
Macias was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a man during a burglary. Macias was implicated by a co-worker, who in exchange for his testimony was not prosecuted for the murders, and from jail-house informants. Post-conviction investigation by pro bono attorneys discovered substantial evidence of inadequate counsel. A federal district court ordered a new hearing finding that "[t]he errors that occurred in this case are inherent in a system which pays attorneys such a meager amount." Macias's conviction was overturned and a grand jury refused to reindict because of lack of evidence. (Marinez-Macias v. Collins, 810 F Supp. 782 (W.D. Tex. 1991), National Law Journal, 5/20/96, and University of Massachusetts Alumni Magazine, Spring 1994).
Read "The Difference a Million Makes" by Adam Cohen in Time Magazine

51. Walter (Johnny D) McMillian Alabama Conviction: 1988, Charges Dismissed: 1993 *
McMillian, a black man, was convicted for the murder of a white female after a trial that lasted only a day and a half. At trial, three witnesses testified against McMillian and the jury ignored multiple alibi witnesses that testified McMillian was at a picnic. Although the jury recommended a life sentence, the judge imposed a sentence of death. Post-conviction investigation by the television show 60 Minutes revealed prosecutorial suppression of exculpatory information and perjury by the state's three witnesses. Macmillan's conviction was overturned by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and prosecutors agreed case had been mishandled. (McMillian v. State, 616 So.2d 933 (Ala. Crim. App. 1993), New York Times, 3/3/93, and ABA Journal 6/93).
Read "Life After Death Row" by Sara Rimer in The New York Times Magazine

52. Gregory R. Wilhoit Oklahoma Conviction: 1987, Acquitted: 1993
Convicted of killing his estranged wife while she slept. His conviction was overturned and he was released in 1991 when 11 forensic experts testified that a bite mark found on his dead wife did not belong to him. The appeals court also found ineffective assistance of counsel. He was acquitted at a retrial in April, 1993. (Wilhoit v. State, 816 P.2d 545 (Okla. Crim. App. 1991) and The Daily Oklahoman, 4/1/93).
Read "My Nightmare: An Interview with Greg Wilhoit" by Ira Saletan

53. James Robison Arizona Conviction: 1977, Acquitted: 1993
Robison was convicted of murder and conspiracy in 1977 in the death of a reporter, Don Bolles. His conviction was overturned in 1980, but he was recharged with the offense in 1990. He was acquitted at retrial in December, 1993. (State v. Robison, 608 P.2d 44 (Ariz. 1980) and The Dallas Morning News, 12/18/93).

*54. Muneer Deeb Texas Conviction 1985 Acquitted 1993
Deeb was originally sentenced to death for allegedly contracting with three hitmen to kill his ex-girlfriend. The hitmen were also convicted and one was sentenced to death. Deeb consistently claimed no involvement in the crime. Deeb's conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1991 because improper evidence had been admitted at his first trial. With an experienced defense attorney, Deeb was retried and acquitted in 1993. (Deeb v. State, 815 S.W.2d 692 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) and The Dallas Morning News, 11/4/93).

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