INNOCENCE: New Evidence That Texas May Have Executed an Innocent Man

In one of the most com­pre­hen­sive inves­ti­ga­tions ever under­tak­en about the exe­cu­tion of a pos­si­bly inno­cent defen­dant, Professor James Liebman and oth­er researchers at Columbia University Law School have pub­lished a ground­break­ing report on the case of Carlos DeLuna (pic­tured), who was exe­cut­ed in Texas in 1989. This ​“Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution” is being pub­lished today (May 15) in Columbia’s Human Rights Law Review. Prof. Liebman con­clud­ed DeLuna was inno­cent and was wrong­ly con­vict­ed ​“on the thinnest of evi­dence: a sin­gle, night­time, cross-eth­nic eye­wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tion and no cor­rob­o­rat­ing foren­sics.” DeLuna main­tained his inno­cence from the time of his arrest until his exe­cu­tion, claim­ing that the actu­al cul­prit was Carlos Hernandez, who looked so sim­i­lar to DeLuna that friends and fam­i­ly had mis­tak­en pho­tos of the two men for each oth­er. Prosecutors called Hernandez a ​“phan­tom” of DeLuna’s imag­i­na­tion, although Hernandez was known to police and pros­e­cu­tors because of his his­to­ry of vio­lent crimes, includ­ing armed rob­beries and an arrest for a mur­der sim­i­lar to the one for which DeLuna was exe­cut­ed. Liebman’s inves­ti­ga­tion found that Hernandez ​“spent years brag­ging around Corpus Christi that he, not his tocayo — his name­sake and ​‘twin’ — Carlos DeLuna, killed Wanda Lopez.”

The arti­cle is accom­pa­nied by a web­site at the Human Rights Law Review, which offers more infor­ma­tion on DeLuna’s case, includ­ing maps, videos, time­lines, and pri­ma­ry sources from the investigation.

(See A. Cohen, ​“Yes, America, We Have Executed an Innocent Man,” Atlantic​.com, May 14, 2012; M. McLaughlin, ​“Carlos De Luna Execution: Texas Put To Death An Innocent Man, Columbia University Team Says,” Huffington Post, May 15, 2012; J. Liebman, et al., ​“Los Tacayos Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution,” 43 Human Rights Law Review 349 (2012)). See DPIC’s list of those Executed but Possibly Innocent and Studies. Listen to DPIC’s pod­cast on Innocence.