Random Innocent Death Row Inmates Who Were Eventually Exonerated (17 items)

• 

  (#1) Randall Dale Adams

  • Dec. at 62 (1948-2010)

  The case of Randall Dale Adams inspired the Errol Morris documentary The Thin Blue Line. Adams was accused of killing a police officer in 1976, after witnesses, including a teenager with whom Adams had spent the day, identified him as the killer.

  Adams's attempts to appeal were overturned, and it wasn't until three days before his scheduled execution that the Supreme Court ordered a stay. Apparently, jurors who had felt uneasy about the death penalty were excluded during selection for his trial. His sentence was changed to life in prison, until further evidence clearing him of the crime was revealed. Adams was released in 1989, one year after the film was released.
• 

  (#2) Anthony Hinton Served 30 Years For A Crime He Didn't Commit

  Anthony Hinton was one of the longest-serving prisoners on death row, having served 30 years for a crime he didn't commit. He was sentenced for the 1985 murders of two local fast food restaurant managers in Birmingham, AL. Hinton was charged with the two killings because the weapon supposedly used to commit them belonged to his mother, but firearms examiners could not verify that claim. His lawyer also hired an examiner without qualifications, setting Hinton's case back even further.

  Thankfully, Hinton's sentence was overturned in light of all that went wrong with his trial. He was subsequently freed in 2015.
• 

  (#3) Sabrina Butler Was Forced To Confess To Killing Her Son

  Sabrina Butler was 18 years old when she was sentenced to death for the murder of her 9-month-old son in 1989. Butler said that her son had stopped breathing and that she had attempted to resuscitate him, leaving bruises on his chest that were later used as evidence of abuse. According to Butler, police yelled that she had murdered her son for three hours, rather than letting her describe what had happened.

  It took seven years before Butler was cleared of the charges. Her son had died from a kidney condition, not murder or abuse, meaning Butler had spent years in isolation on death row for a crime that had not taken place at all.
• 

  (#4) James Edward Creamer Was Sent To Death Row By A Hypnotized Witness

  James Edward Creamer, along with six other individuals, was convicted for the murder of two doctors during a robbery in 1971. Creamer was sentenced to death after the chief witness, Deborah Ann Kidd, said that he was the shooter. She first claimed that she'd been on drugs and was unable to remember anything about witnessing the crime, but under hypnosis, she named Creamer as the culprit.

  Later evidence showed that Kidd was not only romantically linked to one of the detectives on the case but that, under hypnosis, she had also claimed to be the murderer herself. The real killer confessed, and Creamer and the six other people were released in 1975.
• 

  (#5) Clifford Henry Bowen Was Sent To Death Row Despite Having An Alibi

  Clifford Henry Bowen, a professional poker player with a history of burglary, was accused of killing three men in 1980 with a unique weapon: a gun loaded with silver-tipped, hollow-point bullets. Bowen matched the description of the killer, but his alibi placed him some 300 miles away. But Bowen was still put on trial for the crime, with the prosecution going so far as to allege that Bowen took a private, late-night flight to an abandoned airfield to kill the men.

  Bowen was sentenced to death for the murder, and it took two years before an important piece of information came to light: a police lieutenant in the same town had a similar description and carried the unique weapon. The sentence was reversed due to the evidence that had been withheld, and Bowen was released in 1986.
• 

  (#6) Anthony Porter

  • 64

  Anthony Porter was charged with the murder of two teenagers in 1982. Witnesses gave inconsistent testimony about whether they'd seen him actually shoot the victims, or whether they had seen him leave the scene. The trial was riddled with problems as well: Porter's lawyer admitted to halting his investigations into the case, and an IQ test revealed that Porter may have a mental handicap. Nevertheless, he was convicted and sentenced to death.

  The bungled trial eventually led to an appeal, and Porter was granted a stay of execution on the grounds of his inability to understand his punishment. The order came just 48 hours before he was due to be executed in 1998. The real killer was caught in 1999 and sentenced to 37 years in prison.
• 

  (#7) Johnny Ross Was The Youngest Man On Death Row

  Johnny Ross is the youngest man to have been placed on death row at just 16 years old. Accused of rape in Louisiana in 1975, Ross was sentenced to death. This harsh verdict was handed down after a 90-minute trial, and in spite of his claim that his confession had been signed on a blank sheet of paper after hours of beatings from the police.

  The Southern Poverty Law Center believed that Ross's case required more investigation, and found evidence that Ross's blood type did not match that of semen found in the victim. Ross was released in 1981 thanks to the SPLC's investigation.
• 

  (#8) A Dog Put Juan Ramos In Prison

  Juan Ramos, an immigrant from Cuba, was sentenced to death after being accused of raping and murdering a woman in 1982. The evidence came from a bloodhound, who, after being exposed to Ramos's scent, seemed to identify the same scent on the blouse and knife that belonged to the victim. However, these were the only two items with blood on them. The bloodhound was likely identifying the scent of the blood, rather than Ramos's scent.

  Still, Ramos was sentenced to death. But some investigative reporting by 20/20 eventually exposed the unreliability of dog-scent evidence. Ramos's sentence was overturned, and he was released in 1987. Other than the dog's response, there was no evidence linking Ramos to the crime.
• 

  (#9) The Ford Heights Four Led To The Abolition Of The Death Penalty In Illinois

  Due to terrible testimony, falsified information, and other coercion, the Ford Heights Four were falsely accused of the murder and rape of a couple in Chicago in 1978. Witnesses claimed to have seen the four men - Dennis Williams, Kenneth Adams, Verneal Jimerson, and Willie Rainge - in the area where the crimes occurred, and testimony from a state expert said that hairs found at the scene matched those of the accused. Adams was sentenced to death, while the other men were sentenced to life or lengthy prison sentences.

  Three unpaid journalism students eventually uncovered the faulty testimony and took it upon themselves to do DNA testing. Their investigation cleared the Ford Heights Four in 1996, and their case was later used as an example of why Illinois should do away with the death penalty.
• 

  (#10) Rodricus Crawford Was Sentenced To Die For His Son's Untimely Death

  Rodricus Crawford was accused of murdering his infant son in 2012. The child was found unresponsive in Crawford's bed, and the initial examiner claimed that a bruise on the child's lip could indicate that Crawford had smothered the child in his sleep. Crawford was convicted and sentenced to death.

  Later investigations revealed that the death was likely caused by illness. Crawford was freed in April of 2017.
• 

  (#11) A DNA Test Finally Cleared Kirk Bloodsworth's Name

  Kirk Bloodsworth, accused of the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in 1984, was identified as a suspect due to a police sketch seen on TV. Despite his build not matching the suspect's, Bloodsworth was convicted and sentenced to death. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, though some testimony claimed he had made suspicious remarks after the murder.

  Bloodsworth disputed the suspicious remarks, and it eventually came to light that the prosecution did not reveal a second suspect. Bloodsworth was retried and resentenced to two life terms, but he requested DNA testing be done. After nine years in prison, DNA testing revealed that he was indeed innocent, and he was cleared of all charges.

  The real murderer was found in 2003.
• 

  (#12) Ernest "Shujaa" Graham Used His Experience On Death Row To Help Others

  Like the stories of many black men later exonerated from death row, Ernest Shujaa Graham's case almost certainly involved racism on the part of the justice system. Already in prison, Graham was accused of murdering a prison guard in 1973. After three trials, he was sentenced to death. It's believed that Graham was framed for the murder, perhaps in retaliation for his political interest in exposing the corrupt nature of America's prison system and his involvement with the Black Panthers.

  Investigations revealed that the judge in charge of the case deliberately avoided having black jurors. Though Graham's sentence was overturned in 1979, he wasn't released until 1981. Since then, Graham has dedicated his life to discussing the flaws in the prison system and the death penalty.
• 

  (#13) Dale Johnston Was Wrongfully Accused Of Killing His Stepdaughter

  Dale Johnston was accused of murdering his stepdaughter and her fiancé in 1982. The couple had been reported missing, and their bodies were later found mutilated. Another man, Kenny Linscott, was spotted near the site of the murder with a wound on his arm. However, authorities believed that Johnston was the killer. He was subsequently sentenced to death after testimony from a hypnotized witness, among others.

  It took eight years for Johnston's sentence to be entirely lifted, even after the unreliable witness was thrown out and another suspect was identified. Furthermore, it wasn't until 2007 that Linscott's wife came forward to say that the couple had left that night with him. Linscott and another man were ultimately tried for the killings and given time in prison.
• 

  (#14) Freddie Pitts And Wilbert Lee Were Sentenced To Death Because Of Racism

  The case of Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee is one of deliberately ignoring evidence, likely due to racism. Pitts and Lee, who are black, were arrested for the 1963 murder of two gas station attendants, both of whom were white. The two suspects confessed to the murders after hours of beatings. Even when another killer admitted to committing the crime, the revelation was ignored until it was exposed by the press.

  Pitts and Lee were retried, and were once again found guilty. But then a supposed eyewitness recanted her testimony, and the state attorney general admitted to suppressing evidence. The pair was finally pardoned in 1975, with the governor stating that he was convinced of their innocence.
• 

  (#15) A Misleading Accusation Put Michael Linder On Death Row

  Michael Linder spent two years on death row after being accused of murdering a police officer in 1979. Linder claimed that he'd killed the officer in self-defense after he had chased down Linder's motorcycle in his patrol car and fired six shots. Evidence showed that six shots had in fact been fired from the officer's pistol, but that evidence wasn't submitted. Instead, jurors were led to believe that murder was the only charge rather than the alternative voluntary manslaughter.

  A retrial in 1981 led to Linder's release. Linder is serving a life sentence for kidnapping and assault in an unrelated incident.
• 

  (#16) Timothy Howard Is Still In Jail For Two Murders

  Timothy Howard is still in prison for the murders of Brian and Shannon Day. However, he is no longer on death row. He was originally sentenced to death in 1999, due to his relationship with the victims and some DNA found in Day's work boots.

  Between withheld and mishandled evidence, there were enough suspicions about Howard's case to overturn his conviction in 2013. A new trial was mounted in 2015, and this time Howard was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. He received a 38-year sentence.
• 

  (#17) Willie Manning Remains On Death Row Despite One Exoneration

  The case of Willie Manning is particularly complicated. Though he's been exonerated from the death sentence for one pair of murders, he's still sentenced to death for another.

  The first murders were committed in December of 1992. Manning was accused of killing two college students, and sentenced to death. However, charges were dropped after the only major witness recanted his testimony, and it was revealed that the prosecution withheld evidence.

  However, Manning was also accused of committing two more murders just weeks later. He's still sentenced to death for the crimes, despite some similarly shaky evidence implicating him.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking