The Most Common Causes of Wrongful Death Penalty Convictions: Official Misconduct and Perjury or False Accusation

Many fac­tors con­tribute to wrong­ful con­vic­tions, and it is no dif­fer­ent in cap­i­tal cas­es. But the most recent data from the National Registry of Exonerations points to two fac­tors as the most over­whelm­ing­ly preva­lent caus­es of wrong­ful con­vic­tions in death penal­ty cas­es: offi­cial mis­con­duct and per­jury or false accu­sa­tion. As of May 31, 2017, the Registry reports that offi­cial mis­con­duct was a con­tribut­ing fac­tor in 571 of 836 homi­cide exon­er­a­tions 68.3%, very often in com­bi­na­tion with per­jury or false accu­sa­tion, which also was a con­tribut­ing fac­tor in 68.3% of homi­cide exon­er­a­tions. According to the Registry, mis­tak­en wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tion was present in near­ly a quar­ter of homi­cide exon­er­a­tions (203, 24.3%), as was false or mis­lead­ing foren­sic evi­dence (194, 23.2%), and false or fab­ri­cat­ed con­fes­sions were present in more than a fifth of the exon­er­a­tions (182, 21.8%). The Registry lists inad­e­quate legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion at tri­al as a con­tribut­ing fac­tor in more than a quar­ter (218, 26.1%) of these wrong­ful homicide convictions.

Two reports released on March 7, 2017 by the National Registry of Exonerations, Exonerations in 2016 and Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States, pro­vide con­tin­u­ing evi­dence of the role of offi­cial mis­con­duct in wrong­ful cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tions, and sug­gest a link between race of defen­dant and offi­cial mis­con­duct. The Registry’s annu­al report on exon­er­a­tions revealed a record 166 exon­er­a­tions in 2016 — and a record num­ber of exon­er­a­tions involv­ing police or pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct. 54 of the 2016 exon­er­a­tions — near­ly a third — involved wrong­ful homi­cide con­vic­tions. At least 13 of these cas­es involved the wrong­ful use of the death penal­ty — mean­ing that the death penal­ty played a role in near­ly a quar­ter of the 54 homi­cide exon­er­a­tions in 2016. Every one of these wrong­ful con­vic­tions involved either offi­cial mis­con­duct or per­jured testimony/​false accu­sa­tion, and eleven (84.6%) of them involved both. The National Registry’s race report doc­u­ments that the rate of offi­cial mis­con­duct is con­sid­er­ably high­er among mur­der exon­er­a­tions with black defen­dants than those with white defen­dants, 76% com­pared to 63%. The rate of mis­con­duct is high­er over­all in cap­i­tal cas­es, and the dif­fer­ence by race is greater: 87% of black exonerees who were sen­tenced to death were vic­tims of offi­cial mis­con­duct, com­pared to 67% of white death-row exonerees.”

The Death Penalty Information Center has exam­ined our exon­er­a­tion data­base and cross-ref­er­enced it with the National Registry of Exonerations infor­ma­tion on death-row exon­er­a­tions in the last decade (between 2007 and April 2017) to deter­mine the most com­mon fac­tors that con­tributed to the wrong­ful con­vic­tions and death sen­tences for the most recent exonerees. The data for the 34 cas­es in the NRE data­base[1] shows that the wrong­ful cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tions involved more than mere errors. Every one of these cas­es involved some com­bi­na­tion of offi­cial mis­con­duct, per­jury or false accu­sa­tion, or false or mis­lead­ing foren­sic evi­dence; and more than three-quar­ters (26 cas­es, 76.5%) involved at least two of these fac­tors. Fewer than one-tenth of the cas­es (3, 8.8%) involved a sin­gle wrong­ful cause. 91.2% (31 cas­es) had mul­ti­ple con­tribut­ing fac­tors and near­ly half (16 cas­es, 47.1%) had three or more contributing causes.

By cat­e­go­ry, the lead­ing con­tribut­ing caus­es of wrong­ful con­vic­tion in the death-row exon­er­a­tions between 2007 and April 2017 were:

  • Official mis­con­duct (28 cas­es, 82.4%)
  • Perjury or false accu­sa­tion (26 cas­es, 76.5%)
  • False or mis­lead­ing foren­sic evi­dence (11 cas­es, 32.4%)
  • Inadequate legal defense (8 cas­es, 23.5%)
  • False or fab­ri­cat­ed con­fes­sion (6 cas­es, 17.6%)
  • Mistaken eye­wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tion (4 cas­es, 11.8%)

DPI Exoneration Database with National Registry of Exonerations Causes (Where Available)

NameRaceStateYearContributing Factors
Rodricus CrawfordBLA2017Official MisconductFalse or Misleading Forensic Evidence
Isaiah McCoy*BDE2017Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Derral Wayne Hodgkins*-zWFL2015Appellate acquit­tal, insufficient evidence
Lawrence William LeeWGA2015Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationInadequate Legal Defense
Alfred BrownBTX2015Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationMistaken Witness ID
Willie ManningBMS2015Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Anthony Ray Hinton*BAL2015False or Misleading Forensic EvidenceInadequate Legal DefenseMistaken Witness ID
Debra MilkeWAZ2015Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse Confession
Ricky JacksonBOH2014Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Wiley BridgemanBOH2014Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Kwame AjamuBOH2014Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Henry McCollumBNC2014Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse Confession
Leon BrownBNC2014Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse Confession
Carl Dausch‑zWFL2014Allegations that lab tech­ni­cian fal­si­fied DNA swab reportsAppellate acquit­tal, insufficient evidence
Glenn FordBLA2014Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse or Misleading Forensic EvidenceInadequate Legal Defense
Reginald GriffinBMO2013Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Seth PenalverWFL2012Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Damon ThibodeauxWLA2012Official MisconductFalse ConfessionMistaken Witness ID
Joe D’AmbrosioWOH2012Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse or Misleading Forensic Evidence
Gussie VannWTN2011False or Misleading Forensic EvidenceInadequate Legal Defense
Anthony GravesBTX2010Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse or Misleading Forensic Evidence
Robert SpringsteenWTX2009Perjury or False AccusationFalse Confession
Yancy DouglasBOK2009Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Paris PowellBOK2009Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Michael ToneyWTX2009Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
z‑Herman LindseyBFL20093 con­cur­ring jus­tices found penal­ty-phase mis­con­duct by prosecutionAppellate acquit­tal, insufficient evidence
Ronald KitchenBIL2009Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse Confession
Daniel Wade Moore**WAL2009Official Misconduct
Paul HouseWTN2009False or Misleading Forensic Evidence
Nathson FieldsBIL2009Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationInadequate Legal Defense
Michael BlairATX2008False or Misleading Forensic EvidenceMistaken Witness ID
Levon Bo” JonesBNC2008Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationInadequate Legal Defense
Glen Edward ChapmanBNC2008Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationInadequate Legal Defense
Kennedy BrewerBMS2008Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse or Misleading Forensic Evidence
Jonathan HoffmanBNC2007Official MisconductPerjury or False Accusation
Michael Lee McCormickWTN2007False or Misleading Forensic EvidenceInadequate Legal Defense
Curtis McCroryWOK2007Official MisconductPerjury or False AccusationFalse or Misleading Forensic Evidence

* Non-unan­i­mous jury rec­om­men­da­tion
** Judicial over­ride
-z Appellate acquit­tal, not in NRE

Official Misconduct: Wrongful Capital Prosecutions and 2016 Exoneration Data

As dis­cussed above, the 2016 data from the National Registry for Exonerations includ­ed evi­dence that the death penal­ty played a role in near­ly a quar­ter of the 54 homi­cide exon­er­a­tions that took place in 2016.

The NRE exon­er­a­tion data reveals at least 13 exon­er­a­tions that involved the wrong­ful use of the death penal­ty. In at least six of the wrong­ful homi­cide con­vic­tions, pros­e­cu­tors had sought the death penal­ty at tri­al. In anoth­er, an inno­cent defen­dant pled guilty to avoid the death penal­ty. And at least six addi­tion­al exon­er­a­tions were the prod­uct of wit­ness­es hav­ing false­ly impli­cat­ed inno­cent defen­dants after police had threat­ened the wit­ness or a loved one with the death penal­ty unless the wit­ness coop­er­at­ed with the investigation.

There were at least six wrong­ful cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tions in which pros­e­cu­tors sought death, but juries imposed life:

  • Eddie Bolden, IL: Contributing Factors — Mistaken Witness ID, Official Misconduct, Inadequate Legal Defense;
  • Keith Harward, VA: Contributing Factors — Mistaken Witness ID, False or Misleading Forensic Evidence, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct;
  • Mark Maxon, IL: Contributing Factors — False Confession, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct;
  • Charles Palmer, IL: Contributing Factors — False or Misleading Forensic Evidence, Perjury or False Accusation;
  • Kevin Siehl, PA: Contributing Factors — False or Misleading Forensic Evidence, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct, Inadequate Legal Defense;
  • Anthony Wright, PA: Contributing Factors — False Confession, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct.

There was at least one case in which the wrong­ful threat of the death penal­ty caused an inno­cent defen­dant to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty:

  • Paul Gatling, NY: Contributing Factors — Mistaken Witness ID, Official Misconduct.

There were at least three oth­er cas­es, involv­ing six peo­ple exon­er­at­ed in 2016, in which the wrong­ful con­vic­tion was pro­cured by threat­en­ing wit­ness­es that they or their loved ones would face the death penal­ty unless the witness cooperated:

Every one of these wrong­ful con­vic­tions involved either offi­cial mis­con­duct or per­jured testimony/​false accu­sa­tion, and eleven (84.6%) of them involved both.

Race and Official Misconduct in Homicide Cases

The National Registry of Exonerations report on Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States reveals that 87% of black death-row exonerees had been vic­tims of offi­cial mis­con­duct, as com­pared to 67% of white death-row exonerees. Official mis­con­duct is among the most dif­fi­cult and time-con­sum­ing of evi­dence to unearth, and so it is not sur­pris­ing that the most recent exon­er­a­tions — many of which have tak­en two decades or more — pro­vide ever stark­er evi­dence of race effects. The NRE data shows that 20 of the last 21 wrong­ly con­demned African Americans (95%) to have been exon­er­at­ed were vic­tims of offi­cial mis­con­duct, as com­pared to 8 of the last twelve white death-row exonerees (67%).

The National Registry reports that these racial dis­par­i­ties are for the most part” the prod­uct of police mis­con­duct. The Registry reports a mod­est dif­fer­ence” in pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct rates by pros­e­cu­tors in death-row exon­er­a­tions, with pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct present in 59% of death-row exon­er­a­tions of African Americans, as com­pared to 53% of death-row exon­er­a­tions of whites. However, it report­ed a large dif­fer­ence in the rate of mis­con­duct by police”: 59% for black death-sen­tenced exonerees com­pared to 44% for whites. The Registry reports that “[t]he high rate of mis­con­duct by police in mur­der cas­es with black defen­dants is reflect­ed in the nature of the mis­con­duct that occurs. Concealing excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence, the most com­mon type, is pri­mar­i­ly a form of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct; there is rel­a­tive­ly lit­tle dif­fer­ence in its fre­quen­cy by race.… On the oth­er hand, wit­ness tam­per­ing is com­mit­ted almost exclu­sive­ly by police offi­cers” and occurs near­ly twice as fre­quent­ly with black murder defendants.

Comparing Contributing Factors in Homicide Exonerations to Those in Other Types of Crime

Data from the National Registry shows that offi­cial mis­con­duct and false con­fes­sions are far more preva­lent in homi­cide exon­er­a­tions than in exon­er­a­tions for oth­er types of crimes, and that, apart from child sex­u­al abuse, homi­cide exon­er­a­tions involve per­jury or false accu­sa­tion much more fre­quent­ly than do exon­er­a­tions in oth­er types of cas­es. Mistaken eye­wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tions and false or mis­lead­ing foren­sic evi­dence are present to the same degree in homi­cide cas­es as is most oth­er types of cas­es. The excep­tion is exon­er­a­tions in sex­u­al assault cas­es, which have sig­nif­i­cant­ly high­er rates of both mis­tak­en iden­ti­fi­ca­tions and false or mis­lead­ing forensic evidence.

Footnotes

1The National Registry does not include in its exon­er­a­tion data­base the three appel­late acquit­tals of Florida death-row pris­on­ers that occurred dur­ing this peri­od. For inclu­sion in its exon­er­a­tion data­base, NRE requires the sub­se­quent dis­cov­ery of evi­dence of inno­cence, which does not occur when a death-row pris­on­er’s con­vic­tion is over­turned and a retri­al barred because the evi­dence was insuf­fi­cient to con­vict in the first instance. The appel­late acquit­tal itself is suf­fi­cient for inclu­sion on DPI’s exoneration list.

2Although no one who was sen­tenced to death was ful­ly exon­er­at­ed in 2016, the 2016 data from the National Registry for Exonerations includ­ed evi­dence of at least 13 cas­es that involved the wrong­ful use of the death penal­ty, either through wrong­ful cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tions in which (1) defen­dants were con­vict­ed but avoid­ed the death penal­ty at sen­tenc­ing, (2) defen­dants gave false con­fes­sions to avoid fac­ing the death penal­ty at tri­al, or (3) wit­ness­es pre­sent­ed false tes­ti­mo­ny after being threat­ened that they or a loved one would face the death penal­ty if they did not coop­er­ate with law enforcement.

—Robert Dunham, Executive Director (May 312017)

Earlier Studies

Note: Nearly half of the cas­es includ­ed more than one rea­son for a wrong­ful con­vic­tion. Therefore the total of the cas­es in the chart equals more than 86.

In 2001, the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Law School ana­lyzed the cas­es of 86 death-row exonerees. They found a num­ber of rea­sons why inno­cent peo­ple are wrong­ly con­vict­ed in cap­i­tal cas­es. The reasons included:

  • eye­wit­ness error — from con­fu­sion or faulty memory.
  • gov­ern­ment mis­con­duct — by both the police and the prosecution
  • junk sci­ence — mis­han­dled evi­dence or use of unqual­i­fied experts”
  • snitch tes­ti­mo­ny — often giv­en in exchange for a reduc­tion in sentence
  • false con­fes­sions — result­ing from men­tal ill­ness or retar­da­tion, as well as from police torture
  • oth­er — hearsay, ques­tion­able cir­cum­stan­tial evi­dence, etc.

The Center for Wrongful Convictions report found that, among these ear­li­er cas­es, eye­wit­ness error was the most com­mon fac­tor in death-row exon­er­a­tions.
 

Read the Full Report
Attachment A
Attachment B
Attachment C

 

For more infor­ma­tion about the rea­sons for wrong­ful con­vic­tions, see:

General:

Government Misconduct:

Snitch Testimony:

Other:

Eyewitness Error:

Junk Science:

False Confessions:

For National Registry of Exoneration infor­ma­tion on the caus­es of con­vic­tion in cas­es involv­ing exon­er­at­ed for­mer death-row pris­on­ers, click here.