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The Innocent and the Death Penalty

The Editors — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:56:36 +0000

They were once convicted of crimes they did not commit and given the most definitive and final sentence any defendant could ever face: death at the hands of the state. But, often after years on death row, they were proved innocent and exonerated by DNA testing.

Doug Warney

The Editors — Wed, 25 May 2011 02:09:32 +0000

This week marks the fifth anniversary of Douglas Warney’s exoneration in New York. Warney, who suffers from mental illness, falsely confessed to murder after a 12-hour police interrogation.

Neil Miller

The Editors — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:09:48 +0000

After nearly 10 years of wrongful imprisonment, Neil Miller has now been free for 11 years.

Drew Whitley

The Editors — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:32:11 +0000

On May 1, 2006, Drew Whitley walked free after 16 years of wrongful imprisonment.

Julius Ruffin

The Editors — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:03:44 +0000

Julius Ruffin was wrongfully convicted of rape and sodomy in Virginia in 1982. He served 20 years before DNA tests proved his innocence and linked another man, already incarcerated, to the crime. This week marks the 8th year of his freedom.

Michael Anthony Williams

The Editors — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:00:09 +0000

Six years ago this week, Michael Anthony Williams was released from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. He had served over 23 years of a life sentence for a rape that post-conviction DNA testing proved he didn’t commit.

Richard Johnson

The Editors — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:56:41 +0000

In 1991, Richard Johnson was arrested in connection to the rape and robbery of a University of Chicago graduate student. His conviction was overturned on March 8, 1996. He had spent four years in prison for a crime of which he was innocent

Herman Atkins

The Editors — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:16:40 +0000

In 1988, Herman Atkins was convicted of the rape and robbery of a woman in the southern California shoe store where she worked. He was released from prison in February 2000. Having served 12 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Herman Atkins has been free 11 years this week.

Eugene Henton

The Editors — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:25:51 +0000

In 1984, Eugene Henton received a four-year sentence for sexual assault in exchange for a guilty plea to the sexual assault of a woman in her Dallas County, TX, home. Henton was released on parole eighteen months after his conviction and sought DNA testing to prove his innocence.

Donte L. Booker

The Editors — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:30:39 +0000

Donte L. Booker was arrested in Ohio in 1987 in connection with an incident involving a toy gun. He served 15 years for a crime of which he was innocent.

Dana Holland

The Editors — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:45:18 +0000

Dana Holland was wrongfully convicted of two separate crimes that occurred two weeks apart in 1993 on the south side of Chicago. As a result of erroneous eyewitness identification and deceitful forensic analysis, Holland was found guilty and sentenced to a combined 118 years in prison for rape in one case and armed robbery and attempted murder in the other.

The Beatrice Six

The Editors — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:11:19 +0000

Between 1989 and 1990, six innocent people were sentenced to a combined 120 years in prison for the rape and murder of a sixty-eight year old woman in Beatrice, Nebraska. The six co-defendants, three women and three men, came to be called the Beatrice Six, after the town where the crime happened.

Joseph White

The Editors — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:39:43 +0000

This week marks the third anniversary of Joseph White’s exoneration in Nebraska.

He served 19 years of a life sentence in Nebraska for a crime in which he had no involvement.

Cornelius Dupree, Jr.

The Editors — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:43:04 +0000

A Texas judge this morning declared Cornelius Dupree an innocent man, clearing him more than 30 years after he was wrongfully convicted.

Walter Smith

The Editors — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 19:35:22 +0000

This week marks the 14th anniversary of Walter Smith’s exoneration in Ohio. Today, he works as a motivational speaker, sharing his story of triumph over adversity with audiences around the world.

Bernard Webster

The Editors — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:50:19 +0000

Eight years ago this November, Bernard Webster was freed in Maryland after serving 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

DNA testing disproved misleading testimony provided by a forensic analyst during Webster’s trial.

Steven Linscott

The Editors — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:54:08 +0000

Eighteen years ago this week, Steven Linscott was exonerated in Illinois after spending three years in prison for a murder DNA testing proves he didn’t commit.

Paula Gray

The Editors — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:36:55 +0000

Paula Gray was sentenced to 50 years in prison for murder, rape, and perjury. Years would pass before it became apparent that Gray’s confession had been coerced and the true perpetrators confessed.

A Further Measure of Justice

The Editors — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 19:27:43 +0000

By The Editors
Michael Anthony Green and Alan Newton, who’ve never met and live in different parts of the country, share a wonderful reality.

They are now free men.

But that’s because they each endured a terrible injustice. Both men spent more than two decades in prison for crimes they didn’t commit before they were proved innocent through the use of DNA tests and freed. This week both Alan Newton, of New York City, and Michael Anthony Green, of Houston Texas received a further measure of the justice they deserve.

Ryan Matthews

The Editors — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:38:43 +0000

Six years ago this week, Ryan Matthews was exonerated after spending five years on Louisiana's death row for a murder he didn't commit.

Thomas Doswell

The Editors — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:56:34 +0000

After a woman was attacked near a Pittsburgh hospital in 1986, police showed the victim a photographic lineup. None of the photographs were marked except for Doswell’s. His photograph had the letter “R” written on it. At trial, a police officer explained that photographs marked with an “R” represented photographs of people who had been [...]

Larry Johnson

The Editors — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:28:10 +0000

Larry Johnson spent over 18 years in a Missouri prisons for a rape he did not commit. The victim described a clean-shaven African American male, but identified Johnson at a lineup, even though he had a mustache. He was convicted in 1984 based largely on the cross-racial identification. In more than half of wrongful convictions involving eyewitness misidentification, the eyewitness and defendant were of different races. Johnson first contacted the Innocence Project in 1995, but it took six more years, and repeated motions, before a Missouri court allowed DNA testing on the remaining biological evidence. The results conclusively excluded Johnson as the perpetrator, and he was officially exonerated eight years ago this week.

Johnny Briscoe

The Editors — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:29:03 +0000

After 23 years in Missouri prisons for a rape he didn’t commit, Johnny Briscoe was exonerated four years ago this week when DNA tests proved his innocence. Briscoe was convicted of raping a suburban St. Louis woman in 1982. The rapist stayed with the victim after the attack, reportedly smoking a cigarette and telling her that his name was Johnny Briscoe. The victim identified Briscoe at a live lineup, where he was the only person wearing an orange jumpsuit. After his conviction, Briscoe continued to proclaim his innocence. Through the work of Centurion Ministries, investigators eventually discovered the cigarette butts left by the perpetrator. DNA testing on one of the butts revealed the profile of a man Briscoe knew who was already incarcerated. It's likely that the man was trying to frame Briscoe for the rape. Briscoe, then 52, was vindicated, and he walked out of prison on July 19, 2006.

Steven Toney

The Editors — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:20:45 +0000

Steven Toney was wrongfully convicted of a 1982 rape in Missouri after the victim identified him in both photo and in-person lineups. After his 1983 conviction, Toney filed multiple appeals arguing ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial lawyer had repeatedly refused his requests for DNA testing. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with him in 1996, and later that year biological evidence was tested through the help of Centurion Ministries. The results proved Toney’s innocence and he was exonerated 14 years ago this week after spending over 13 years in prison.

Byron Halsey

The Editors — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:27:09 +0000

Byron Halsey spent 19 years in prison for the brutal rape and murder of his girlfriend's two children in 1985. Halsey, who has a sixth-grade education and severe learning disabilities, was interrogated by New Jersey Police for over 30 hours before confessing to the crime. Halsey's neighbor, Clifton Hall, was initially suspected, since his whereabouts at the time of the murders could not be confirmed, but he was ignored once Halsey confessed. Spectators at Halsey's trial jeered loudly when he was convicted and "only" sentenced to life in prison, since he was not eligible for the death penalty.