Arthur Mumphrey served over 17 years in a Texas prison after being convicted for the rape of 13-year-old girl. Two African American men had followed the victim before taking her to a wooded area, where they raped her. The victim could not identify the men, but Mumphrey’s co-defendant admitted to the rape and implicated Mumphrey. DNA testing conducted in 2005 revealed that Mumphrey’s co-defendant, as well as an unknown male, were the sources of semen. Four years ago this week, Mumphrey was officially exonerated when he was pardoned by the Governor of Texas.

Although James Waller was paroled in 1993, he continued fighting to prove his innocence for the rape conviction for which he had served a decade in prison. Waller was found guilty based mainly on a single eyewitness identification from the child victim, despite having a strong alibi. After saving money for DNA testing, he was excluded as a match for hairs found at the crime scene, but it took almost five more years for further DNA tests, obtained with the assistance of the Innocence Project, to fully clear him. Waller was pardoned three years ago this week.

In 1992, Roy Brown was convicted of the murder of a social-service worker in upstate New York based on unreliable testimony that bite marks on the victim’s body matched Brown’s teeth. After Brown discovered undisclosed documents implicating another man, he wrote a letter to the man stating that DNA evidence would reveal him as the [...]

In 1989, after three trials, Arvin McGee was convicted of the rape of a twenty-year-old woman in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Although McGee maintained his innocence and was suffering from an injury that rendered him physically unable to commit the crime, he was convicted based in part on blood-type testing. McGee was officially exonerated eight years ago this week after Oklahoma authorities re-tested semen samples. The DNA profile matched another man who was already incarcerated in Oklahoma.

Kennedy Brewer was sentenced to death in Mississippi in 1995 for a child murder he didn’t commit. DNA testing in 2001 indicated that he could not have committed the crime and led to his conviction being overturned. He remained in jail for seven more years, however, before an Innocence Project investigation led to the real perpetrator. He was freed two years ago this week.

Feb 9 – Two years ago this week, Willie “Pete” Williams was exonerated in Georgia after more than 21 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He was freed with the help of the Georgia Innocence Project. Williams is one of eight DNA exonerees in Georgia, all eight were convicted based in part on eyewitness misidentification and all eight are African-American.

Feb 2 – Six years ago this week, Stephan Cowans was exonerated in Massachusetts after serving more than five years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He was convicted based in part on a faulty fingerprint identification. Sadly, he died in 2007 after just three years free.

Four years ago, DNA tests led a Florida judge to drop Alan Crotzer’s 130-year prison sentence and set him free. Crotzer had spent 24 years — more than half his life — in prison for a crime spree he had nothing to do with. After DNA proved Crotzer’s innocence, his co-defendant admitted that he had committed the crime with another man, not Crotzer. Today, Crotzer speaks frequently to audiences across the country about the causes of wrongful conviction and reforms to prevent future injustice.

This week marks the third anniversary of Travis Hayes’ exoneration in Louisiana. After his co-defendant Ryan Matthews was exonerated from Louisiana’s death row in 2004, Travis Hayes spent more than two additional years in prison for a crime that neither man committed. Hayes and Matthews were 17 years old when they were arrested in New Orleans for a murder they didn’t commit. One-third of all people exonerated through testing to date were under 22 when they were arrested.

The week marks the two-year anniversary of Ronald Taylor’s exoneration in Houston, Texas. Taylor was convicted based in part on flawed forensic tests conducted at the troubled Houston Police Department crime lab. He is one of at least three people cleared by DNA testing after being convicted based on faulty tests in the Houston lab.

After his release, he married his longtime fiancée, Jeanette Brown, and the couple now lives in Atlanta.