Ray Krone (pic­tured, cen­ter) was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death in 1992 for the mur­der Kim Ancona in Arizona. Krone’s con­vic­tion was even­tu­al­ly over­turned. He was re-tried and again con­vict­ed in 1996. Finally, in 2002, DNA test­ing exclud­ed Krone from the crime and he was freed. Now anoth­er man has plead­ed guilty to the offense. Kenneth Phillips, Jr. was sen­tenced to a term of 53 years to life in prison for the mur­der and sex­u­al assault on August 18, 2006. DNA evi­dence linked Phillips to the crime. Initially, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office sought the death penal­ty against Phillips but dropped the request because of mit­i­gat­ing evi­dence pre­sent­ed by the defense.

(Arizona Daily Star and Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2006). At the time of his release, Ray Krone was the 100th inmate to be freed from death row after being cleared of all charges since 1973. There have now been 123 such cases.

See Innocence and Arbitrariness.

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