Several cas­es in California illus­trate the inher­ent risk with the death penal­ty that an inno­cent per­son could be exe­cut­ed. Lee Farmer was freed from death row in 1999 after win­ning a new tri­al based on new­ly dis­cov­ered evi­dence that an accom­plice admit­ted to the crime for which he faced exe­cu­tion. Farmer was acquit­ted of mur­der at his retri­al. Troy Lee Jones (pic­tured) was sen­tenced to death even though there were no eye­wit­ness­es to the mur­der of which he was accused. Jones’s con­vic­tion and sen­tence were over­turned in 1996 because he received inad­e­quate rep­re­sen­ta­tion. The state dropped all charges. Patrick Croy and Jerry Bigelow had their death sen­tences over­turned by the California Supreme Court. Both were acquit­ted of the main charges against them at retri­als. Oscar Lee Morris​’s cap­i­tal con­vic­tion was over­turned because pros­e­cu­tors with­held cru­cial evi­dence. The state even­tu­al­ly dropped all charges. Charles Bonneau, a lawyer for an inmate who was released after 14 years on death row, said cas­es like these should lead to the con­clu­sion that ​“it’s just a bridge too far for human beings to try to make that judg­ment” between life and death.

(B. Egelko, ​“Death penal­ty ban seeks to answer doubts,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 16, 2012). Another man, Shujaa Graham, was sen­tenced to death in 1976 under California’s pri­or law. He was cleared of all charges and freed in 1981. See Innocence. Listen to DPIC’s pod­cast on Innocence.

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