Special Reports

A record 151 men and women were exonerated across the United States in 2018, according to the National Registry of Exonerations’ 2018 annual report on wrongful convictions. The report, Exonerations in 2018, included 68 exonerations resulting from wrongful homicide convictions. A DPIC analysis of data accompanying the report shows that at least five people were exonerated in 2018 after having been wrongfully convicted in cases that involved the misuse or threatened use of the death penalty…

In July 2017, DPIC looked at how geography, race, and sentencing alternatives played a role in these cases. Based on the facts we reviewed, we found: GEOGRAPHY: Two-thirds (18 of 27) of the death sentences were concentrated in just 3 of Ohio’s 88 counties: Hamilton (7); Lucas (6); and Cuyahoga (5). In DPIC’s 2013 Report, The 2% Death Penalty, we found that 2% of the counties in the U.S. account for more than half of all the prisoners on death row nationwide and for more half of all the…

Three states scheduled executions for February 22, 2018. Texas planned to execute Thomas ​“Bart” Whitaker for the murders of his mother and brother. Alabama planned to execute Doyle Hamm, a 60-year-old man with terminal cranial and lymphatic cancer that his lawyers said would make his veins unusable for lethal injection. Florida planned to execute Eric Branch, who was unconstitutionally sentenced to death after a non-unanimous 10 – 2 jury sentencing recommendation. However, only one of the…

Eight executions were scheduled in Arkansas from April 17 – 27, 2017. The state scheduled two executions per day on four days during that period. The men scheduled for execution were (top row, from left to right) Bruce Ward, Marcel Williams, Jason McGehee, and Kenneth Williams; (bottom row, from left to right) Stacey Johnson, Ledell Lee, Don Davis, and Jack Jones. The state carried out four executions during this period. Date of Execution (Scheduled) Prisoner Date of Crime Date of Conviction Age…

On February 27, 2017, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed orders for an unprecedented eight executions to be carried out over a period of eleven days in April. The scheduled dates for the four sets of double executions are: April 17, Bruce Ward and Don Davis; April 20, Stacey Johnson and Ledell Lee; April 24, Jack Jones and Marcel Williams; and April 27, Kenneth Williams and Jason McGehee. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge had asked that the dates be set after the U.S. Supreme Court…