Publications & Testimony

On July 1, after waiting 41 years for his name to be cleared, Larry Roberts became the 200^th person exonerated from death row. A new Death Penalty Information Center analysis finds that Mr. Roberts’ experience illustrates a troubling trend: for innocent death-sentenced prisoners, the length of time between wrongful conviction and exoneration is increasing. In the past twenty years, the average length of time before exoneration has roughly tripled, and 2024 has the highest-ever average wait…

In the second and third videos of The New York Times’ three-part series, “The Fallibility of Justice,” Brett Malone, whose mother’s killer remains on Louisiana death row, and Texas death-sentenced prisoner Charles Don Flores provide their perspectives on capital punishment. The New York Times has consistently called for abolition of the death penalty, describing it as “full of bias and error, morally abhorrent, [and] futile in deterring crime.” Mr. Malone describes his personal journey from…

In a July podcast episode from Deeper Dive with Dara Kam, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (pictured) spoke about his beliefs on capital punishment and his regrets about not having enough time to reform Florida’s death penalty process. Gov. Bush, who oversaw 21 executions during his eight years in office, said that “it’s one of those things that would probably be unpopular to do, but figuring out a way to reform the system given the existing laws that we have now, I think would be appropriate.”

30-year-old German national Rico Krieger, who was sentenced to death on six charges related to terrorism, espionage, and mercenary activity, was pardoned by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on July 30, 2024, thereby converting his death sentence to a life prison term. On August 1, Mr. Krieger was subsequently released during the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War, according to The Guardian. Eight Russian prisoners were released from Western nations, including Germany’s…

In this month’s episode of Discussions with DPIC, Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Leah Roemer, DPIC’s Legal Fellow and a primary author of our recent report, Lethal Election: How the U.S. Electoral Process Increases the Arbitrariness of the Death Penalty. Leah graduated from Berkeley Law in 2023, where she participated in the Death Penalty Clinic and earned a certificate in Public Interest and Social Justice. Leah discusses how some judges, prosecutors, and politicians alter their…

A July 2024 report from the Texas Defender Service (TDS), An Unfulfilled Promise: Assessing the Efficacy of 11.073, the first-ever comprehensive review of Texas’ junk science writ, revealed that the “law systematically fails to provide relief to innocent people convicted based on false forensic evidence.” In 2013, the Texas Legislature passed a first-of-its-kind law, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 11.073, creating a procedural pathway for convicted individuals to seek new trials if…

In honor of Disability Pride Month (July), the Death Penalty Information Center posted a weekly feature highlighting issues related to the death penalty and disability and profiles of individuals who have played key roles in changing the laws to protect prisoners with disabilities. This final post focuses on the role of mitigation specialists. Capital mitigation specialists assist defense attorneys when preparing for capital trials and post-conviction appeals by conducting a thorough…

UPDATE: On August 2^nd, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revoked the July 31, 2024 plea agreement reached between military commissions prosecutors and defense counsel for three of the 9/11 defendants being held at Guantanamo. In a two-paragraph memo, Secretary Austin revoked the authority of Susan Escallier, the head of the Military Commissions Convening Authority, to enter into the plea agreements and reserved that authority for himself. This unexpected development negates at least two years…

On July 26, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court denied Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s request to block an evidentiary hearing scheduled for August 21^st, 2024, where the St. Louis County Circuit Court is set to hear evidence of Marcellus Williams’ (pictured) innocence. The circuit court set the August 21^st hearing in response to a motion to vacate Mr. Williams’ conviction and death sentence filed by Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in January 2024. In his motion, DA Bell wrote that the…

Brian Wharton, who was the lead detective in Palestine, Texas at the time of Robert Roberson’s conviction for the death of his two-year-old daughter Nikki, now believes Mr. Roberson is innocent and supports abolition of the death penalty. Mr. Wharton said in a video for The New York Times that there is “unassailable doubt” that Mr. Roberson is guilty. In the video, Mr. Wharton recounts his role in the investigation of Nikki’s death, describing how he believed he was doing the right thing, but…