Innocence Database
Instructions: This database can be searched by name and filtered using any combination of the search filters below. All columns are sortable by clicking the title at the top of the column. To find out more about the cases on the list, click here. For more information on the criteria for inclusion on DPIC’s Innocence List click here.
Terms:
# — Refers to the chronological order in which the defendants were exonerated.
State — Place of capital conviction
Years Between — The difference between the year of exoneration and the year of capital conviction
Exoneration Procedure — Normally, when a conviction is overturned by an appellate court, the state has the option of re-trying the defendant. If the state does not seek a re-trial, charges are dismissed. If a re-trial occurs and the defendant is found not guilty, the case is listed as an acquittal.
DNA evidence — refers to whether DNA evidence played a major role in exonerating (“yes”) the defendant or not (“no”)
DPIC uses a number of resources when adding cases to the above list, including court opinions, media coverage, and conversations with those directly involved in the cases. The earlier cases in the list are based heavily on the research of Hugo Adam Bedau and Michael L. Radelet. (See, e.g., Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet, “Miscarriages of justice in potentially capital cases,” 40 Stanford Law Review 21 (1987); M.Radelet, H. Bedau, and C. Putnam, In Spite of Innocence, Northeastern University Press (1992); see also M. Radelet et al., “Prisoners released from death rows since 1970 because of doubts about their guilt,” 13 Thomas M. Cooley Law Review 907 (1996)).