Misconduct Reversals and Exonerations by County and State

The maps below show the broad geo­graph­i­cal scope of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct rever­sals and exon­er­a­tions. However, the nature of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct cas­es makes it dif­fi­cult to rank one coun­ty or state as worse than anoth­er. The num­ber of mis­con­duct rever­sals or exon­er­a­tions in a state or coun­ty depends on a com­bi­na­tion of fac­tors, includ­ing how much mis­con­duct occurs, how much mis­con­duct is dis­cov­ered, and how will­ing courts and oth­er deci­sion­mak­ers are to reverse or exon­er­ate in cas­es involv­ing prosecutorial misconduct.

For exam­ple, accord­ing to DPIC data, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania leads the nation in pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct rever­sals and exon­er­a­tions, but this does not nec­es­sar­i­ly mean that Philadelphia pros­e­cu­tors have engaged in the most mis­con­duct. DPIC has gath­ered exhaus­tive infor­ma­tion regard­ing Philadelphia cap­i­tal cas­es, includ­ing unpub­lished tri­al court opin­ions. These resources are not avail­able for every juris­dic­tion. Further, some Philadelphia cas­es that were reversed for mis­con­duct by state and fed­er­al courts have sim­i­lar facts to cas­es in oth­er juris­dic­tions in which courts failed to grant relief.