Isaiah McCoy Exonerated from Delaware Death Row, the 157^th Death Row Exoneration Since 1973

Isaiah McCoy (pic­tured), a for­mer Delaware death row inmate, was exon­er­at­ed on January 19, 2017, when a judge acquit­ted him at a retri­al. He is the 157^th per­son exon­er­at­ed from death row in the United States, the first in 2017, and the first in Delaware. 

McCoy was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death in 2012, but the Delaware Supreme Court over­turned his con­vic­tion in 2015 as a result of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct and ordered a new tri­al. The Court sus­pend­ed Deputy Attorney General R. David Favata from prac­tice because of his mis­con­duct at McCoy’s tri­al, which includ­ed belit­tling McCoy for choos­ing to rep­re­sent him­self, mak­ing intim­i­dat­ing com­ments dur­ing a break in pro­ceed­ings, then lying to the judge about mak­ing the comments. 

McCoy waived his right to a jury for his retri­al, leav­ing the deci­sion in the hands of Kent County Superior Court Judge Robert B. Young. In acquit­ting McCoy, Judge Young not­ed that there was no phys­i­cal evi­dence against him and that two alleged accom­plices had giv­en con­tra­dic­to­ry tes­ti­mo­ny. One of the accom­plices, Deshaun White, received a sen­tence reduc­tion for tes­ti­fy­ing against McCoy. 

Upon his release, McCoy said, ​“I just want to say to all those out there going through the same thing I’m going through ​‘keep faith, keep fight­ing. Two years ago, I was on death row. At 25, I was giv­en a death sen­tence – and I am today alive and well and kick­ing and a free man.” 

McCoy was the sec­ond for­mer death row pris­on­er in a year to be released in Delaware after obtain­ing a new tri­al for pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct. In May 2014, Jermaine Wright won a new tri­al after 21 years on death row when pros­e­cu­tors and police with­held excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence about pos­si­ble alter­nate sus­pects in a case in which no foren­sic or eye­wit­ness evi­dence had linked Wright to the crime. Wright was released in September 2016 after plead­ing no con­test to less­er charges and being resen­tenced to time already served.