Policy Issues
Innocence
The death penalty carries the inherent risk of executing an innocent person. Since 1973, at least 190 people who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated.
DPIC Database: Innocence Database
A Death Penalty Information Center database of every death-row exoneration since 1972.
DPIC Analysis: Causes of Wrongful Convictions
The Most Common Causes of Wrongful Death Penalty Convictions: Official Misconduct and Perjury or False Accusation
Overview
Given the fallibility of human judgment, there has always been the danger that an execution could result in the killing of an innocent person. Nevertheless, when the U.S. Supreme Court held the administration of the death penalty to be unconstitutional in 1972, there was barely any mention of the issue of innocence in the nine opinions issued. Although mistakes were surely made in the past, the assumption prevailed that such cases were few and far between. Almost everyone on death row was surely guilty.
However, as federal courts began to more thoroughly review whether state criminal defendants were afforded their guaranteed rights to due process, errors and official misconduct began to regularly appear, requiring retrials. When defendants were now afforded more experienced counsel, with fairly selected juries, and were granted access to scientific testing, some were acquitted and released. Since 1973, 190 former death-row prisoners have been exonerated of all charges related to the wrongful convictions that had put them on death row.
At Issue
It is now clear that innocent defendants will be convicted and sentenced to death with some regularity as long as the death penalty exists. It is unlikely that the appeals process—which is mainly focused on legal errors and not on factual determinations—will catch all the mistakes. Reforms have been begrudgingly implemented, increasing both the costs and the time that the death penalty consumes, but have not been sufficient to overcome human error. The popularity and use of capital punishment have rapidly declined as the innocence issue has gained attention. The remaining question is how many innocent lives are worth sacrificing to preserve this punishment.
What DPIC Offers
DPIC has led the way in highlighting the issue of innocence. Its list of exonerated individuals is presented in a searchable database, with links to more complete descriptions of each case. DPIC has issued a series of reports on this issue, collecting the latest information on why so many mistakes occur. It also follows the related questions of whether innocent individuals have already been executed and whether some defendants are in fact innocent, despite not being completely exonerated in the eyes of the law.
News & Developments
Innocence
Mar 07, 2023
California Sought the Death Penalty – 38 Years Later, the Defendant is Exonerated
In a case that demonstrates the risks inherent in the death penalty, Maurice Hastings was found “factually innocent” in Los Angeles of the crime that could have sent him to death row and eventual execution. On March 1, 2023, Judge William Ryan dis…
Innocence
Feb 22, 2023
Former Maryland Death Row Prisoner Exonerated After 40 Years
John Huffington (pictured) has been exonerated of all the charges that sent him to death row over 40 years after his initial wrongful conviction. On January 13, 2023, outgoing Maryland Governor Larry Hogan granted a full pardon to Huffington, stat…
Innocence
Feb 15, 2023
Thirty-three Years After His Conviction, Former Death Row Prisoner Asks Supreme Court for Justice
Crosley Green was sentenced to death for murder in Florida in 1990 with an all-white non-unanimous jury. He was removed from death row in 2009 and resentenced to life in prison. He has always maintained his innocence and is now asking the U.S. …
Innocence
Feb 03, 2023
POSSIBLE INNOCENCE: New Evidence Regarding Missouri Man Facing Execution
Leonard Taylor (pictured) is a Missouri death-row prisoner who was convicted in 2008 of a quadruple murder that occurred in St. Louis in December 2004. His execution is scheduled for February 7, 2023. Taylor has consistently maintained his innocen…
Innocence
Jan 30, 2023
Attorneys for Kevin Cooper Respond to Special Counsel Report
Kevin Cooper (pictured) is a death-row prisoner in California who was convicted of murdering four people in 1985. He has maintained his innocence of the offense. On January 13, 2023, a special counsel appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to conduct …
Innocence
Jan 27, 2023
Oklahoma Attorney General Appoints Special Counsel to Conduct ‘Thorough Review’ of Richard Glossip’s Case
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has appointed a special counsel to conduct a ‘thorough review’ of the case of death-row prisoner Richard Glossip, who has faced nine execution dates despite strong evide…
Innocence
Jan 13, 2023
Supreme Court Reverses Texas Court Decision Based on Prosecutor’s Admission About Flawed Forensic Evidence
The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the denial of relief to a Texas death-row prisoner whose request for new trial is supported by local prosecutors. In a two-sentence decision, the Court granted certiorari to Areli Escoba…
Innocence
Jan 11, 2023
Illinois Commutations Twenty Years Ago Marked Turning Point in Death-Penalty Abolition
January 11, 2023 marks the twentieth anniversary of former Illinois Governor George Ryan’s decision to grant clemency to every death row prisoner in Illinois, the largest blanket clemency in the modern era of the death penalty. It was a watershed …
Innocence
Jan 10, 2023
47 Years After His Death Sentence, Florida Court Orders DNA Testing for Tommy Zeigler
Nearly 47 years after being convicted of a quadruple murder, Florida death-row prisoner Tommy Zeigler has finally been permitted to independently conduct new DNA testing on evidence he claims will prove his innocence. Circuit Court Judge …
Innocence
Jan 09, 2023
Philadelphia Death-Row Survivor Christopher Williams Shot to Death at Funeral Less Than Two Years After Double Exoneration
Less than two years after being exonerated in two different cases, Philadelphia death-row exoneree Christopher Williams (pictured) has been murdered. Williams, who spent nearly three decades in prison, including …
