Jermaine ​“Marlow” Wright, Former Delaware Death Row Prisoner, is 203^rd Person Exonerated, 34 Years After His Wrongful Conviction

On July 23, 2026, Delaware Superior Court Judge Calvin Scott ordered a Certificate of Innocence be issued to Jermaine ​“Marlow” Wright (pic­tured, right, with attor­ney James Moreno) and grant­ed expunge­ment of his con­vic­tion. Mr. Wright is the 203^rd per­son exon­er­at­ed from death row in the United States since 1973, and the sec­ond in Delaware.

Mr. Wright was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death in 1992 for a liquor store rob­bery and mur­der of the clerk, Phillip Seifert. No foren­sic evi­dence ever linked Mr. Wright to the crime, but he was con­vict­ed on the basis of a con­fes­sion that he gave while under the influ­ence of hero­in, and the false tes­ti­mo­ny of a jail­house infor­mant. His con­vic­tion was over­turned in 2014 after it was revealed that pros­e­cu­tors had with­held excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence, in vio­la­tion of Brady v. Maryland. The state sup­pressed evi­dence that would have impeached the tes­ti­mo­ny of the jail­house infor­mant. Prosecutors also with­held evi­dence that an attempt­ed rob­bery took place at anoth­er liquor store less than an hour before Mr. Wright’s alleged crime, by sus­pects match­ing the same descrip­tion and using a similar weapon.

After his con­vic­tion was vacat­ed, Mr. Wright agreed to a plea deal to avoid a retri­al and obtain his free­dom. In 2016, he was released from prison after plead­ing no con­test to sec­ond-degree mur­der and being sen­tenced to time served. At the time, he said, ​“After 24 years incar­cer­at­ed, I would just like to go home.” 

Mr. Wright main­tained his inno­cence, and his legal team con­tin­ued to fight to ful­ly exon­er­ate him. The court order clears his con­vic­tion and enti­tles him to com­pen­sa­tion for the time he spent wrongfully incarcerated.