List of exonerated death row inmates

This list contains names of people who were found guilty of capital crimes and placed on death row who were later found to be wrongly convicted. Some people were exonerated posthumously.

This list is based on information from the Death Penalty Information Center which includes individuals who were sentenced to death and had their sentenced overturned by acquittal or pardon. [ [http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=6&did=110 Innocence: List of Those Freed From Death Row ] ] The state listed is the state where the individual was convicted, the year listed is the year of release and the case listed is the case that overturned their conviction.

This list does not include
# posthumous pardons for individuals executed before 1950
# inmates who were given life sentences when their country, province or state abolished the death penalty
# people who were threatened with death and never jailed, such as Salman Rushdie
# people who were jailed by groups or courts, for example as often occurs in cases of sentences of stoning.

List by country

Iraq

2000-2007

2002

*All prisoners including inmates sentenced to death (Pardoned by Saddam Hussein) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2343843.stm]

Japan

1980-1989

1983
*Menda Sakae (Convicted 1949)1984
*Taniguchi Shigeyoshi
*Saito Yukio1989
*Akahori Masao

Nigeria

2000-2007

2002
*Safiyatu Husseini Tunga-Tuda (Convicted 2001)

Pakistan

2000-2007

*Zahid Mahmood Akhtar2002
*Arshad Javed (Sentenced 1992) [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28628] 2006
*Mirza Tahir Hussain

Russia

1990-1999

1993
*All death row inmates (Pardoned by Yeltsin). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/360100.stm]

United Kingdom

1966
* Timothy Evans (posthumous, executed)

1968
* Mahood Mattan (posthumous, executed)
* Derek Bentley (posthumous, executed)

1969
* Death penalty for murder abolished.

United States

1970-1979

California declaration
*In 1972, the California Supreme Court declared in "California v. Anderson" 64 Cal.2d 633, 414 P.2d 366 (Cal. 1972) that the Death Penalty was unconstitutional in violation of what was then Article 1, Section 6 (now Article 1, Section 17) of the State Constitution, and that the decision was retroactively effective to all persons on Death Row in the State. Thus a number of infamous convicted murderers had their sentences commuted from death to life in prison. (Later that year, the U.S. Supreme Court in "Furman v. Georgia" ussc|408|238|1972 would also find the death penalty unconstitutional).1973
*1. David Keaton "Florida" (Keaton v. State, 273 So.2d 385 (1973)). Convicted 1971.1974
*2. Samuel A. Poole "North Carolina" (State v. Poole, 203 S.E.2d 786 (N.C. 1974)). Convicted 1973.1975
*3. Wilbert Lee "Florida" (Pitts v. State 247 So.2d 53 (Fla. 1971), overturned and released by pardon in 1975). Convicted 1963.
*4. Freddie Pitts "Florida" (Pitts v. State 247 So.2d 53 (Fla. 1971), overturned and released by pardon in 1975). Convicted 1965.
*5. James Creamer "Georgia" (Emmett v. Ricketts, 397 F. Supp 1025 (N.D. Ga. 1975)). Convicted 1973.
*6. Christopher Spicer "North Carolina" (State v. Spicer, 204 SE 2d 641 (1974)). Convicted 1973.1976
*7. Thomas Gladish "New Mexico". Convicted 1974.
*8. Richard Greer "New Mexico". Convicted 1974.
*9. Ronald Keine "New Mexico". Convicted 1974.
*10. Clarence Smith "New Mexico". Convicted 1974. 1977
*11. Delbert Tibbs "Florida". Convicted 1974.1978
*12. Earl Charles "Georgia". Convicted 1975.
*13. Jonathan Treadway "Arizona". Convicted 1975.1979
*14. Gary Beeman "Ohio". Convicted 1976.

1980-1989

1980
*15. Jerry Banks
*16. Larry Hicks1981
*17. Charles Ray Giddens
*18. Michael Linder
*19. Johnny Ross
*20. Ernest (Shuhaa) Graham1982
*21. Annibal Jaramillo
*22. Lawyer Johnson "Massachusetts" (Commonwealth v. Johnson, 429 N.E.2d 726 (1982)). Convicted 1971.1985
*23. Larry Fisher1986
*24. Anthony Brown (currently serving 33 years on other charges)
*25. Neil Ferber
*26. Clifford Henry Bowen1987
*27. Joseph Green Brown
*28. Perry Cobb
*29. Darby (Williams) Tillis
*30. Vernon McManus
*31. Anthony Ray Peek (Currently serving a life sentence for Sexual Battery(rape))
*32. Juan Ramos
*33. Robert Wallace1988
*34. Richard Neal Jones
*35. Willie Brown (currently serving life for crimes including bank robbery and battery)
*36. Larry Troy1989
*37. Randall Dale Adams "Texas" (Ex Parte Adams, 768 S.W.2d 281 (Tex. Crim App. 1989). Convicted 1977.
*38. Robert Cox (curently serving a life sentence for other crimes)
*39. Timothy Hennis (In 2006, the US Military filed capital charges for the same crime after previously unavailable DNA evidence became available. Because he was on death row under state law, there is no double jeopardy.)
*40. James Richardson

1990-1999

1990
*41. Clarence Brandley "Texas" (Ex Parte Brandley, 781 S.W.2d 886 (Tex. Crim App. 1989). Convicted 1981.
*42. John C. Skelton
*43. Dale Johnston
*44. Jimmy Lee Mathers1991
*45. Gary Nelson
*46. Bradley P. Scott
*47. Charles Smith1992
*48. Jay C. Smith1993
*49. Kirk Bloodsworth "Maryland". Convicted 1984. Serving life in prison when exonerated as earlier death sentence was overturned.
*50. Federico M. Macias
*51. Walter McMillan
*52. Gregory R. Wilhoit
*53. James Robison(later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, his target was a witness against him in his murder trial.)
*54. Muneer Deeb1994
*55. Andrew Golden (Currently serving a sentence for child molestation)1995
*56. Adolph Munson
*57. Robert Charles Cruz
*58. Rolando Cruz
*59. Alejandro Hernandez
*60. Sabrina Butler1996
*61. Joseph Burrows
*62. Verneal Jimerson
*63. Dennis Williams
*64. Roberto Miranda
*65. Gary Gauger
*66. Troy Lee Jones
*67. Carl Lawson
*68. David Wayne Grannis1997
*69. Ricardo Aldape Guerra
*70. Benjamin Harris
*71. Robert Hayes
*72. Christopher McCrimmon
*73. Randall Padgett
*74. James Bo Cochran 1998
*75. Robert Lee Miller, Jr.
*76. Curtis Kyles1999
*77. Shareef Cousin "Louisiana" (Louisiana v. Cousin, 710 So. 2d 1065 (1998)). Convicted 1996. Served and was paroled from a 20 year sentence for a series of armed robberies. Currently incarcerated for grand theft and identity theft.
*78. Anthony Porter "Illinois". Convicted 1983.
*79. Steven Smith
*80. Ronald Williamson
*81. Ronald Jones
*82. Clarence Dexter, Jr.
*83. Warren Douglas Manning
*84. Alfred Rivera

2000-2008

2000
*85. Steve Manning
*86. Eric Clemmons
*87. Joseph Nahume Green
*88. Earl Washington "Virginia" (Pardoned). Convicted 1994 (1984, without life sentence)
*89. William Nieves
*90. Frank Lee Smith (Died prior to Exoneration)
*91. Michael Graham
*92. Albert Burrell
*93. Oscar Lee Morris2001
*94. Peter Limone
*95. Gary Drinkard
*96. Joachin Jose Martinez
*97. Jeremy Sheets
*98. Charles Fain2002
*99. Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon "Florida". Convicted 1984.
*100. Ray Krone "Arizona" (State v. Krone, 897 P.2d 621 (Ariz. 1995) (en banc)). Convicted 1992.
*101. Thomas Kimbell, Jr.
*102. Larry Osborne2003
*103. Aaron Patterson (Now serving unrelated 30 year sentence in federal prison for firearms violations and drug trafficking.)
*104. Madison Hobley
*105. Leroy Orange
*106. Stanley Howard (Now serving 50 years for unrelated kidnapping and rape of two women and the rape of an elderly woman in her home.)
*107. Rudolph Holton
*108. Lemuel Prion
*109. Wesley Quick
*110. John Thompson
*111. Timothy Howard
*112. Gary Lamar James
*113. Joseph Amrine
*114. Nicholas Yarris "Pennsylvania" (Pennsylvania v. Yarris, No 690-OF1982, Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County, September 3, 2003. Order vacating conviction). Convicted 1982.Illinois moratorium
* On January 11, 2003, Governor George Ryan commuted the sentences of all 156 death row inmates in the state of Illinois following a legal moratorium.:See Also:*State of Illinois (Jan 31, 2000). [http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=3&RecNum=359 Governor Ryan Declares Moratorium On Executions, Will Appoint Commission To Review Capital Punishment System] . Press Release.:*Armstrong, Ken and Parsons, Christi (Jan 22, 2000). [http://www.truthinjustice.org/halfcleared.htm Half of state's death-penalty cases reversed: A variety of errors found in 130 trials] . "Chicago Tribune", online.2004
*115. Alan Gell
*116. Gordon Steidl
*117. Laurence Adams
*118. Dan L. Bright
*119. Ryan Matthews
*120. Ernest Ray Willis2005
*121. Derrick Jamison
*122. Harold Wilson2006
*123. John Ballard
*124. Curtis McCarty2007
*125. Michael McCormick
*126. Jonathon Hoffman
*127. Kennedy Brewer "Mississippi". Convicted 1995.2008
*128. [http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2669008/ Glen Edward Chapman] "North Carolina". Convicted 1995.
*129. Levon "Bo" Jones [http://www.newsobserver.com/1565/story/1058118.html/] "North Carolina". Convicted 1993.
*130. [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/091708dnmetblair.1a73098.html Michael Blair] "Texas". Currently in prison for the sexual assault of three young girls.

Other cases

*Sirhan Sirhan, killer of Robert F. Kennedy
*Charles Manson, who led the notorious Manson family killing spree, was exonerated under the California Supreme Court decision of 1972.

Canada

*Between 1879 and 1960, Canada commuted 438 death sentences. [ [http://www.amnesty.ca/deathpenalty/canada.php Amnesty International: Canada] ] One notorious case at the time was that of Angelina Napolitano, a pregnant, abused wife who became the first person in Canada to use the battered woman defence for murder after she axed her husband to death. Although she was initially sentenced to hang, the federal cabinet eventually commuted her sentence to life imprisonment."Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online": Angelina Napolitano. By Franca Iacovetta. University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2004. [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=42085&query= page accessed June 2008] ]
*In all but exceptional cases, Canada will not extradite accused murderers unless the death sentence will not be imposed, or if imposed, not carried out. This diplomatic commutation arrangement stems from the 2001 case of United States v. Burns. Sebastian Burns.

References

ee also

*Capital punishment
*Death Row
*List of proven miscarriages of justice
*List of United States death row inmates

External links

*Death Penalty Information Center List of Exonerated Death Row Inmates [http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=6&did=110]
*National Review article critical of the DPIC 'roll of death row innocents' [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_17_54/ai_90888288 Bad List: A suspect roll of Death Row 'innocents']
*Innocence Project - 190+ Individuals Exonerated by DNA Evidence [http://www.innocenceproject.org/know/Browse-Profiles.php]
*Center on Wrongful Convictions [http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/exonerations/States.htm]
*Death Penalty Information Center, Facts about exonerations [http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=412]
* [http://www.justicedenied.org/landmarkstudy.htm Landmark Study] of death penalty reversals. "Justice Denied" magazine.
* [http://forejustice.org/search_idb.htm The Innocents Database of wrongly convicted people, including more than 900 wrongly convicted of murder.]
* [http://www.dallasobserver.com/2008-02-07/news/life-after-dna-exoneration/ Returning to Life After DNA Exoneration]