INNOCENCE: Louisiana Death Row Inmate Exonerated Through DNA After 15 Years

On September 28, Damon Thibodeaux was freed from death row in Louisiana after an exten­sive inves­ti­ga­tion, includ­ing DNA test­ing and the coop­er­a­tion of Jefferson Parrish District Attorney Paul Connick. Thibodeaux was sen­tenced to death for the 1996 rape and mur­der of his cousin. He at first con­fessed to the attack after a nine-hour inter­ro­ga­tion by detec­tives. He recant­ed a few hours lat­er and claimed his con­fes­sion was coerced. In releas­ing Thibodeaux, Connick said, ​“I have con­clud­ed that the pri­ma­ry evi­dence in this case, the con­fes­sion, is unre­li­able. Without the con­fes­sion the con­vic­tion can’t stand, and there­fore in the inter­est of jus­tice, it must be vacat­ed.” Thibodeaux is the 141^st per­son to be exon­er­at­ed and freed from death row since 1973, and the 18^th per­son released through DNA evi­dence. The Innocence Project in New York, which worked on his case for years, counts Thibodeaux as the 300^th exon­er­a­tion achieved through DNA test­ing in the U.S. (cap­i­tal and non-cap­i­tal cas­es). Barry Scheck, a founder of the Innocence Project, said, ​“The 300^th exon­er­a­tion is an extra­or­di­nary event, and it couldn’t be more fit­ting that it’s an inno­cent man on death row who gave a false con­fes­sion. People have a very hard time with the con­cept that an inno­cent per­son could con­fess to a crime that they didn’t com­mit. But it hap­pens a lot. It’s the ulti­mate risk that an inno­cent man could be executed.” 

Thibodeaux spent 15 years on death row in Angola. The rein­ves­ti­ga­tion of the case cost more than $500,000, an expense shared by the defense and pros­e­cu­tion. Regarding his ear­ly state­ment to the police, Thibodeaux not­ed, ​“They look for vul­ner­a­ble points where they can manip­u­late you, and if you’re sleep-deprived or pan­icked, or you’re on some­thing or drunk, it makes it that much eas­i­er to accom­plish what they want to accom­plish.… I was will­ing to tell them any­thing they want­ed me to tell them if it would get me out of that interrogation room.” 

(D. Blackmon, ​“Louisiana death-row inmate Damon Thibodeaux exon­er­at­ed with DNA evi­dence,” Washington Post, September 28, 2012). See Innocence. Listen to DPIC’s pod­cast on Innocence. See also the Innocence Project’s mate­ri­als on 300 DNA exon­er­a­tions: www​.inno​cen​ce​pro​ject​.org/300.