FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, December 29, 2000 CONTACT: BRENDA BOWSER
(202) 293‑6970

TWO MORE DEATH ROW INMATES CLEARED, CAPPING A RECORD TWO-YEAR SPAN

Wrongful con­vic­tions of Louisiana inmates illus­trate crit­i­cal death penalty problems

WASHINGTON, DC — Two more death row inmates have been exon­er­at­ed, bring­ing a tumul­tuous year of dra­mat­ic death penal­ty devel­op­ments to a close. The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office announced that charges against Michael Ray Graham, Jr., and Ronnie Burrell should be dis­missed because of a ​“total lack of cred­i­ble evi­dence.” The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) notes that the exon­er­a­tions of Graham and Burrell bring the num­ber of inmates exon­er­at­ed from death row in two years to 16 — the most in any two-year peri­od since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed. It also brings the total num­ber of exon­er­a­tions since that time to 92.

Yesterday, Graham was freed from the state’s death row in Angola. Graham is from Roanoke, Va., and spent most of his adult life on death row before pros­e­cu­tors inves­ti­gat­ing the case dropped charges. Graham has main­tained his inno­cence since his con­vic­tion. One pros­e­cu­tor remarked that this case nev­er should have been brought to a grand jury. The con­vic­tions were orig­i­nal­ly over­turned by the court when defense attor­neys raised ques­tions about the lack of phys­i­cal evi­dence and shaky testimony.

The same lack of evi­dence applied to Burrell’s involve­ment and led to the Attorney General’s Office deci­sion to dis­miss charges against him. Burrell, who came with­in 17 days of his exe­cu­tion in 1996, is from Monroe, La., and remains in Angola. Following a court hear­ing that is slat­ed to take place next week, he should be released from prison. Burrell’s exon­er­a­tion marks the state’s fifth.

In its Year End Report released last week, DPIC found that the year 2000 has been a time of deep­en­ing con­cern about the fair­ness and accu­ra­cy of the death penal­ty. A steady sequence of events — includ­ing six oth­er exon­er­a­tions in 2000, numer­ous reports on the unfair­ness of the process, and offi­cial calls for reform — pro­duced a sharp decline in pub­lic sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The report, ​“A Watershed Year of Change: New Revelations About Death Penalty Reverse Years of Division,” also found that nation­al reli­gious lead­ers, civ­il rights orga­ni­za­tions and legal experts are align­ing them­selves with for­mer pro­po­nents of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to call for a rad­i­cal rethink­ing of exe­cu­tions as a form of pun­ish­ment in the United States.

The report notes that efforts by state leg­is­la­tors, for­mer judges, Congressional law­mak­ers, and reli­gious and inter­na­tion­al lead­ers to lim­it or halt the death penal­ty are expect­ed to expand next year. In the wake of stud­ies and reveal­ing cas­es demon­strat­ing mis­takes in the appli­ca­tion of the death penal­ty — such as the exon­er­a­tions of Graham and Burrell — states will con­sid­er a vari­ety of pro­pos­als for reform, halt­ing exe­cu­tions, and even for abol­ish­ing the death penalty altogether.

Since 1976, there have been 26 exe­cu­tions in Louisiana. Approximately 93 inmates are housed on Louisiana’s death row.

DPIC is a non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion serv­ing the media and the pub­lic with analy­sis and infor­ma­tion on issues con­cern­ing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The Center was found­ed in 1990 and serves as a resource to those inter­est­ed in this issue. For copies of DPIC’s Year End Report or for fur­ther infor­ma­tion about inno­cence and the death penal­ty, con­tact Communications Director Brenda Bowser or see the Center’s Web site at www​.death​penal​ty​in​fo​.org.

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