
DPI Database: Innocence Database
A Death Penalty Information Center database of every death-row exoneration since 1972. For every 8 people executed in the United States, one other person has been exonerated from death row.

DPI Analysis: What Lies Behind 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, 200 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 DPI Offers
DPI 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. DPI 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
News
Aug 19, 2025
Former Illinois Death-Sentenced Prisoner Robert Melock’s Charges Dismissed, Court Acknowledges Innocence

After spending more than three decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit, Robert Melock was issued a Certificate of Innocence (COI), with a court formally clearing his name and ordering his record expunged. On April 21, 2025, the Circuit Court of the 19th Judicial Circuit issued Mr. Melock the certificate following his December 2023 release from prison after 34 years of incarceration. His case is emblematic of the many problems known to result in wrongful death…
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Aug 07, 2025
Florida’s Executions: Troubling Patterns of Secrecy and Inadequate Legal Representation
On July 31, 2025, the state of Florida executed its ninth person this year, Edward Zakrzewski, marking the highest number of executions in a single year in Florida in modern death penalty history. The haste with which Governor DeSantis is scheduling executions has prompted many questions and additional scrutiny about a process that is cloaked in secrecy and a decision-maker who is untroubled by the serious issues in many of the cases set for execution. ###…
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Aug 06, 2025
Facts About the Death Penalty – Has an Innocent Person Ever Been Executed?
An undeniable truth of the death penalty is that it carries the inherent risk of executing innocent individuals. Many may believe that the execution of an innocent person is an anomaly and that the criminal justice system has adequate safeguards in place to rectify wrongful convictions. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. Fact: For Every 8 Individuals Executed in the Modern Era, One Other Death-Sentenced Person has been Found Innocent. Since 1973, 200…
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Aug 01, 2025
Exoneree Sandra Hemme’s Case Reflects Broader Pattern of Opposition to Innocence Claims from Missouri Attorney General’s Office
Sandra Hemme walked free from a Missouri prison in July 2024 after 43 years behind bars for a murder she did not commit; however, her release only came after a judge threatened state Attorney General Andrew Bailey with contempt of court for trying to keep Ms. Hemme incarcerated despite overwhelming evidence of her innocence. Now 65 years old, Ms. Hemme has filed a lawsuit against the city of St. Joseph, Missouri and eight police officers involved in her case for malicious…
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Jul 18, 2025
District Judge Sets “Unfortunate” New Execution Date for Texas Prisoner Robert Roberson, Despite Pending Petition in Support of His Innocence Claim
On July 16, 2025, Smith County District Judge Austin Reeve Jackson set an execution date of October 16, 2025 for Robert Roberson, a man with a strong innocence claim who has a habeas corpus petition pending at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA). Judge Jackson, after hearing arguments from both defense counsel for Mr. Roberson and attorneys from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, ruled that there was no legal basis for not signing an execution order.“It doesn’t…
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