![DPIC Database: Innocence Database](https://img.dpic-cdn.org/images/icons/icon-execution.png?w=90&h=90&q=82&fm=png&fit=crop&dm=1615322255&s=93e8287b1c6283a1f59b47e94532f766)
DPIC Database: Innocence Database
A Death Penalty Information Center database of every death-row exoneration since 1972.
![DPIC Analysis: Causes of Wrongful Convictions](https://img.dpic-cdn.org/images/icons/icon-gavel.png?w=90&h=90&q=82&fm=png&fit=crop&dm=1615322263&s=7291785beba68078a667189b0d5ad91f)
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, 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 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
News
Jul 22, 2024
Missouri Attorney General Opposes Opportunity for Marcellus Williams to Establish His Innocence Before Execution Date
![](https://img.dpic-cdn.org/images/MarcellusWilliams1.jpg?w=150&h=150&q=60&auto=format&fit=crop&dm=1560348340&s=6687dad46850540c0dd14411305de82c)
On July 18, 2024, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey asked the state Supreme Court to block a scheduled evidentiary hearing for Marcellus Williams and deny him the opportunity to establish his innocence before his scheduled execution on September 24, 2024. The Circuit Court of St. Louis County scheduled the August 21st hearing to assess the “clear and convincing” evidence of Mr. Williams’ actual innocence that prompted St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to file a motion to vacate…
Read MoreNews
Jul 18, 2024
Art Installation Honors U.S. Death Row Exonerees
Biography: Unwritten by Toby Lee Greenberg highlights the ruined lives of those exonerated from U.S. death rows through an art installation of books. According to a press release from the artist, the installation of empty books at The Gallery at Penn College reflects the “fragile lives wasted and lost within a system” and prompts viewers to “consider the simple moments so often taken for…
Read MoreNews
Jul 08, 2024
Significant Developments in Cases of Innocent Prisoners on Death Row
On Wednesday, July 3rd, the 200th death row exoneration was announced. But an unknown number of prisoners with compelling innocence claims remain on death row, unable to secure relief either because they lack access to competent legal representation for their appeals, are barred from accessing the courts because of procedural legal barriers, or due to the incalcitrance of elected officials. For some of these prisoners, execution dates have been set. Significant developments have occurred…
Read MoreNews
Jul 03, 2024
The 200th Exoneration Underscores Critical Flaws in the U.S. Criminal Legal System; Other Innocent Prisoners Remain on Death Row
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Furman v. Georgia (1972), 200 death-sentenced men and women across 30 states have been exonerated. Analysis from the Death Penalty Information Center reveals these individuals have collectively spent 2,621 years in harsh prison conditions for crimes they did not commit. On average, death row exonerees spent 13 years under the sentence of death before their exonerations, with some individuals spending more than 40 years fighting to prove…
Read MoreNews
Jul 02, 2024
Larry Roberts Becomes the 200th Person Exonerated from Death Row
Larry Roberts, the 200th exoneree, was wrongfully convicted in 1983 for the murder of a fellow prisoner and prison guard at the California Medical Center in Vacaville, California. The only witnesses to these stabbings were fellow prisoners who testified against Mr. Roberts; he was sentenced to death for both killings. Years later, the California Supreme Court overturned Mr. Roberts’ conviction for the death of the prison guard but left his death sentence in place. After 41 years, the…
Read More