Innocence Cases: 1994 - 2003
1994
54. Andrew Golden Florida Conviction: 1991, Charges Dismissed: 1994 *
Andrew Golden spent 26 months on Florida’s death row, convicted in 1991 for the murder of his wife in 1989. According to Golden, his wife, Ardelle, died after accidentally driving down an unmarked, unlit boat ramp into the water. Prosecutors argued that Golden, heavily in debt, had killed Ardelle to collect on the life insurance. Police investigators and the medical examiner testified at the trial that the evidence did not suggest foul play (Life Magazine, October 1994). Nonetheless, the jury opted for the prosecutor’s version of the story and sentenced Golden to die in the electric chair.
Golden, a high school teacher in Florida before the death of his wife, had his conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court in 1993. The Court held that the state had failed to prove that the victim's death was anything but an accident. Golden was released into the waiting arms of his sons on January 6, 1994. (Golden v. State, 629 So.2d 109 (Fla. 1993)).
Read "The Other 13 Survivors..." by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times
1995
*55. Adolph Munson Oklahoma Conviction: 1985, Acquitted: 1995
Adolph ‘Abe’ Munson, was convicted in 1985 for the murder of Alma Hall, who was abducted during her all-night shift at a local convenience store. Munson became a suspect once police realized that, at the time of the crime, he was on a work release program run by an Oklahoma prison where he was serving time for a barroom murder.
Oklahoma’s highest criminal appeals court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling granting Munson a new trial. The ruling by the Criminal Court of Appeals cited a “significant amount” of exculpatory evidence that was kept from Munson at the original trial. (Oklahoma v. Munson, 886 P.2d 999 (Okla. Crim. App. 1994)). The exculpatory evidence, according to Judge Charles S. Chapel, who wrote the court’s opinion, “revealed photographs of the crime scene at odds with the State’s theory of the case, reports on the other suspects and impeachment evidence.” (Oklahoma v. Munson, 886 P.2d 999 (Okla. Crim. App. 1994)). Furthermore, Dr. Ralph Erdmann, the paleontologist who presented the forensic evidence at trial, was convicted of seven felony counts including the misrepresentation of facts in other cases and stripped of his license.
Munson was acquitted at a re-trial in April 1995.
(ABA Journal December 1993 , ABA Journal February 1995, and The Oklahoma Observer April 25, 1995).
56. Robert Charles Cruz Arizona Conviction: 1981, Acquitted: 1995*
Robert Charles Cruz, a former Tempe businessman, won instant freedom after more than 14 years behind bars as jurors returned verdicts acquitting him of murder and other charges. This was the fifth trial for the former death-row inmate accused in the 1980 contract killing of a Phoenix print-shop owner and his mother-in-law. His previous five trials included two convictions and two mistrials, before his acquittal on June 1, 1995.
Prosecutors claimed that Cruz hired and paid three men to kill Patrick Redmond and Helen Phelps, co-owners of Graphic Dimensions, in a plot to take over the business. Jurors said the overriding reason for acquitting Cruz was the lack of credibility of some witnesses (The Arizona Republic, June 2, 1995). The chief prosecution witness, Arnie Merrill, was a convicted burglar and former drug dealer who was given immunity for his testimony. The absence of motive and the lack of a physical evidence connecting Cruz to the murders weighed heavily on jurors as they voted to acquit.
“This is justice,” said Kevin McNally, one of Cruz’s lawyers. “This is the right decision.”
(State v. Cruz, 857 P.2d 1249 (Ariz. 1993), and The Arizona Republic, June 2, 1995).
57. Rolando Cruz Illinois Conviction: 1985, Acquitted: 1995
Cruz was sentenced to death for the murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico. Another man, Brian Dugan, who had already pled guilty to two rapes and murders, including that of an 8-year-old girl, authorized his lawyer to tell the prosecutors that he killed Nicarico. Cruz was convicted at a second trial in 1990, at which Dugan did not testify. In July, 1994, the state Supreme Court overturned Cruz's second conviction. (People v. Cruz, 643 N.E.2d 636 (1994). An assistant state attorney general resigned because she thought the evidence showed Cruz was innocent and thought it wrong to pursue the prosecution. Other law enforcement officials also protested the continued efforts to prosecute Cruz. Cruz was finally acquitted at his retrial in November, 1995. The judge did not even wait for the defense to put on its case before entering a directed verdict of not guilty. (People v. Cruz, 88 CF 2230). Three prosecutors and four law enforcement officers involved with the prosecution of Cruz and his co-defendant (see below) have been indicted for obstruction of justice in this case. (The American Lawyer, 3/98 and National Law Journal 11/20/95).
Read "Life After Death Row" by Sara Rimer in The New York Times Magazine
Read "The Snitch System" by Northwestern University School of Law Center on Wrongful Conviction
Read "A Broken System: Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez" by The Justice Project
58. Alejandro Hernandez Illinois Conviction: 1985, Charges Dismissed: 1995
Hernandez was sentenced to death along with Rolando Cruz for the murder of Jeanine Nicarico in 1983. Hernandez was re-tried in 1990, but the trial ended in a hung jury. A third trial in 1991 resulted in a conviction and an 80 year prison sentence. The conviction was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court in January, 1995. Only his own indirect statements, not any direct physical evidence, linked Hernandez, who is borderline retarded, to the killing. He was released on bond, and charges were subsequently dropped on Dec. 8, 1995. The man who has confessed to the murder of Jeanine Nicarico, and whose DNA has been linked to the crime, has not been charged in the case. The U.S. Dept. of Justice is considering an investigation into civil rights violations in this case. (People v. Hernandez, 521 N.E.2d 25 (Ill. 1988), Associated Press, 12/8/95, and The National Law Journal, 1/1/96).
Read "A Broken System: Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez" by The Justice Project
59. Sabrina Butler Mississippi Conviction: 1990, Acquitted: 1995
Sabrina Butler was 17 years old when her 9-month old son, who had a heart murmur, stopped breathing. After attempts to resuscitate her son, Butler rushed to the hospital, where the young child was pronounced dead. The following day Butler was arrested for child abuse due to the bruises left by her resuscitation attempts. She was interrogated by the police and then prosecuted. Then, in 1990, she was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.
Her conviction was overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1992. (Butler v. State, 608 So.2d 314 (Miss. 1992)). The court said that the prosecution had failed to prove that the incident was anything more than an accident. At re-trial, she was acquitted on Dec. 17, 1995 after a very brief jury deliberation. It is now believed that the baby may have died either of cystic kidney disease or from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
1996
60. Joseph Burrows Illinois Conviction: 1989, Charges Dismissed: 1996
Joseph Burrows was sentenced to death in 1989 for the 1988 murder of an 88-year-old man, William Dulin. Burrows spent five years on death row before a judge in Kankakee, Illinois, ordered a new trial for Burrows after key witnesses recanted their testimony. Considering that no physical evidence linked Burrows to the crime, the testimony of the eyewitnesses was crucial. He was convicted largely on the testimony of Gayle Potter and Ralph Frye, who received lighter sentences in exchange for testifying. Ms. Potter confessed in July of 1994 that she alone had committed the murder. Mr. Frye recanted his testimony as well, claiming that prosecutors and police officers had coerced him into providing testimony (New York Times, September 11, 1994).
Judge John F. Michela released Burrows in September of 1994, while Burrows was awaiting his new trial. The Prosecutor in the case, Charles Zalar, acknowledged that the only evidence against Mr. Burrows was the eyewitness accounts, “we don’t have much without them.” (New York Times, September 25, 1994). The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the overturning of his conviction on April 11, 1996. (People v. Burrows, 665 N.E.2d 1319 (Ill. 1996)).
Read "Back to Family from Life on Death Row" by Dirk Johnson in The New York Times
Read "The Snitch System" by Northwestern University School of Law Center on Wrongful Conviction
61. Verneal Jimerson Illinois Conviction: 1985, Charges Dismissed: 1996
Jimerson was sentenced to death in 1985 for a murder which occurred in 1978. The chief witness against him was Paula Gray, who has an IQ of 57. In her original story to the police, she did not mention Jimerson. Then she added his name to her account, along with three other names, including Dennis Williams (see #67). She later recanted her entire testimony, saying the police had forced her to lie. The original charges against Jimerson were dismissed, but they were resurrected seven years later when the police offered to drop some charges against Gray if she would implicate Jimerson. Gray's 50 year sentence was converted to 2 years probation. In 1995, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously reversed Jimerson's conviction, because Gray had been allowed to testify falsely about her bargain. (People v. Jimerson, 652 N.E.2d 278 (Ill. 1995)). Jimerson was released on bond in early 1996, and charges against him were subsequently dropped. (New York Times, 7/3/96)
Read "DNA Tests and a Confession Set Three on the Path to Freedom in 1978 Murders" by Don Terry in The New York Times
Read "The Snitch System" by Northwestern University School of Law Center on Wrongful Conviction
62. Dennis Williams Illinois Conviction: 1979, Charges Dismissed: 1996
Williams was convicted, along with three others (including Verneal Jimerson, above), for the murder of a young couple in 1978. After spending 18 years in prison, Williams was released on June 14, 1996 because new evidence pointed to the fact that all four men were wrongly convicted. Much of the investigative work which led to the defendants' release was done by three journalism students. Recent DNA tests indicate that none of the four men were involved in the crime, and another man has confessed to the murder. Charges against Williams, and two others who received lesser sentences in the same case, were dropped on July 2, 1996. Cook County State's Attorney Jack O'Malley apologized to the four wrongly convicted defendants, including Verneal Jimerson, who had also been on death row. (David Protess and Rob Warden, A Promise of Justice (Hyperion 1998) and New York Times, 7/3/96).
Read "DNA Tests and a Confession Set Three on the Path to Freedom in 1978 Murders" by Don Terry in The New York Times
63. Roberto Miranda Nevada Conviction: 1982, Charges Dismissed: 1996
Miranda was released in September 1996 after the prosecution declined to retry him following the reversal of his conviction. Miranda had maintained his innocence through his 14 years on death row. He originally came to the U.S. from Cuba during the Mariel boatlift. Prosecutors originally offered him a plea bargain whereby he would serve as little as 10 years in prison, but he refused because he was innocent. One day after being released from death row with only the clothes on his back and a few belongings, he was incarcerated by the Immigration Service. He was subsequently released pending a deportation hearing. At trial, Miranda had been represented by an attorney with one year's experience who had inherited the case when his colleague died. In overturning his conviction, Clark County Senior District Judge Norman Robison wrote: "The lack of pretrial preparation by trial counsel . . . cannot be justified." (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 9/6/01 and Dallas Morning News 4/23/97)
Read "Free at Last" by People Magazine
Read "Former Inmate's Lawsuit..." by Jace Radke in The Las Vegas Sun
64. Gary Gauger Illinois Conviction: 1993, Charges Dismissed: 1996
Gauger was convicted of killing his parents in April, 1993. In September 1994, the trial court judge reduced Gauger's sentence to life imprisonment. In March, 1996, the U.S. District Court overturned his conviction, ruling that authorities never had probable cause to even arrest Gauger or to subject him to 21 hours of intensive questioning. He was released in October, 1996 by the same judge that had sentenced him to die by lethal injection. The prosecution did not challenge his release. (US News and World Report, 11/9/98).
Read "Free at Last" by People Magazine
Read "The Snitch System" by Northwestern University School of Law Center on Wrongful Conviction
Read "A Broken System: Gary Gauger" by The Justice Project
See "Gary Gauger" by Journey of Hope
65. Troy Lee Jones California Conviction: 1982, Charges Dismissed: 1996
The California Supreme Court ruled in June, 1996 that Jones should have a new trial because he was not adequately defended at his original trial for the murder of Carolyn Grayson in 1981 (In re Troy Lee Jones on Habeas Corpus, 917 P.2d 1175 (1996)). The Court found that the defense attorney failed to conduct an adequate pretrial investigation, speak with possible witnesses, obtain a relevant police report, or seek pretrial investigative funds. Moreover, the attorney elicited damaging testimony against his own client during cross examination of a witness. The prosecution announced that it was dropping all charges against Jones in November, 1996, after he had been on death row for 14 years. (Associated Press, 11/19/96).
Read "California Death Sentence..." by Dan Goodin in The Recorder
66. Carl Lawson Illinois Conviction: 1990, Acquitted: 1996
Lawson was convicted of killing Terrence Jones in a family dispute. He was tried three times. The first trial resulted in a conviction and death sentence, but that conviction was overturned in part because Lawson's public defender had been an assistant State's Attorney when Lawson was arrested. (Illinois v. Lawson, 644 N.E.2d 1172 (1994). The second trial resulted in a hung jury, reportedly 11-1 for acquittal. Nevertheless, the prosecutors tried Lawson again and again sought the death penalty. This last trial produced an acquittal and Lawson was freed on December 12, 1996. On August 1, 2002, Illinois Governor George Ryan issued a pardon to Lawson based on innocence. (St. Louis Dispatch, 4/12/98 and Chicago Tribune, 8/1/02).
*67. David Wayne Grannis Arizona Convicted: 1991, Charges Dismissed: 1996
On November 6, 1996, Pima County, Arizona, Superior Court Judge Bernardo Valesco dismissed the murder charges against David Wayne Grannis, and he was freed. (Arizona Daily Star, Nov. 7, 1996). Grannis was sentenced to death in 1991 for first degree murder, but his conviction was overturned and remanded for a new trial in July 1995 by the Supreme Court of Arizona. (State v. Grannis, 900 P.2d 1 (Az. 1995)). At trial, Grannis testified that he and his co-defendant, Daniel Webster were hitchhiking and were picked up by the victim, Richard Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe offered the men a place to stay. Although the state argued that Grannis and Webster killed Sutcliffe in the course of robbing him or burglarizing his home, Grannis testified that he did not know Sutcliffe was dead until he was arrested. Grannis testified that he was sexually propositioned by Sutcliffe, who became aggressive. Grannis stated that his screams awakened Webster, who killed Sutcliffe after Grannis ran out of the house. At trial, Webster's friend, Eva Marie Lopez, stated that she "overheard Webster bragging to [her cousin] Baker about committing a murder. In addition, she testified that she heard Webster tell Baker that he (Webster) killed someone and that he liked the feeling it gave him." (Id. at 4). At trial, the state offered into evidence photos depicting homosexual activity that were found in Grannis' room at the time of his arrest. In overturning the conviction, the Arizona Supreme Court held that the photos were "marginally relevant" and that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting them. The Court stated that the probative value of the photos was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. "The jurors' verdict may well have been improperly influenced by their revulsion and not entirely based on a belief that the state proved the elements of the crime." (Id. at 6). Although Webster was again convicted for Sutcliffe's murder, the charges against Grannis were dismissed at retrial because of insufficient evidence.
1997
68. Ricardo Aldape Guerra Texas Conviction: 1982, Charges Dismissed: 1997
Guerra was sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in Houston. Federal District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ruled on Nov. 15, 1994 that Guerra should either be retried in 30 days or released, stating that the actions of the police and prosecutors in this case were "outrageous," "intentional" and "done in bad faith." He further said that their misconduct "was designed and calculated to obtain . . . another 'notch in their guns.'" (Guerra v. Collins, 916 F. Supp. 620 (S.D. Texas, 1995)). Judge Hoyt's ruling was unanimously upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals. (Guerra v. Johnson, 90 F.3d 1075 (5th Cir. Tex. 1996)). Although Guerra was granted a new trial, Houston District Attorney Johnny Holmes dropped charges on April 16, 1997 instead. Guerra returned to his native Mexico. (New York Times, 4/17/97).
Read "Mexican Long Held..." in The New York Times
*69. Benjamin Harris Washington Conviction: 1985, Charges Dismissed: 1997
On March 2, 1994, U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan overturned Harris' conviction and vacated his sentence of death for the 1984 murder of Jimmy Turner on the basis that his original trial lawyer had been incompetent. Harris's attorney interviewed only 3 of the 32 witnesses listed in police reports and spent less than 2 hours consulting with Harris before trial. Harris's co-defendant was acquitted. Bryan ordered Harris released from custody if not brought to a speedy retrial. (Harris by & Through Ramseyer v. Blodgett, 853 F. Supp. 1239 (W.D. Wash. 1994)). The decision was upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on September 12, 1995. (Harris by & Through Ramseyer v. Wood, 64 F.3d 1432 (9th Cir. Wash. 1995)). The prosecution decided not to retry Harris but tried to have him confined as insane. (They had previously argued that he was competent to stand trial.) On July 16, 1997, a jury decided that Harris should not be imprisoned at Western State Hospital. Harris maintains his innocence and says he was framed. (The Seattle Times, 8/19/97).
Read "Exonerated but Never Set Free" by Maureen O'Hagan in The Seattle Times
70. Robert Hayes Florida Conviction: 1991, Acquitted: 1997
Hayes was convicted of the rape and murder of a co-worker based partly on faulty DNA evidence. The Florida Supreme Court threw out Hayes's conviction and the DNA evidence in 1995 (Hayes v. Florida, 660 So. 2d 257 (1995)). The victim had been found clutching hairs probably from her assailant. The hairs were from a white man, whereas Hayes is black. Hayes was acquitted at a retrial in July, 1997. (Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, 7/17/97).
Read "The Other 13 Survivors..." by Sydney Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times
*71. Christopher McCrimmon Arizona Conviction: 1993, Acquitted: 1997
Christopher McCrimmon was convicted and sentenced to death for a triple murder that occurred in Tucson's El Grande Market in 1992. Two other co-defendants, Andre Minnitt and Martin Soto-Fong, were also sentenced to death for the same crime. At McCrimmon's trial, one juror hesitated about his vote for conviction. The trial judge met with the jury, which then shortly returned a unanimous guilty verdict. The Arizona Supreme Court overturned McCrimmon’s conviction in 1996 because of the judge's undue pressure on the jury. (Arizona v. McCrimmon/Minnitt, 927 P.2d 1298 (1996)). Subsequently, it was discovered that the lead prosecutor against all 3 co-defendants, Kenneth Peasley, presented false evidence in the original case. With this knowledge, McCrimmon was quickly acquitted at his re-trial in 1997. (See Arizona v. Minnitt, 55 P.3d 774, 779 (2002) (vacating co-defendant Minnitt's conviction and sentence and barring re-trial because of deliberate prosecutorial misconduct)). In commenting on the prosecutor's deceit, the Arizona Supreme Court wrote: "The record is replete with evidence of Peasley's full awareness that [evidence he presented] was utterly false. Peasley's misdeeds were not isolated events but became a consistent pattern of prosecutorial misconduct that began in 1993 and continued through re-trial in 1997." (See J. Toobin, "Killer Instincts," The New Yorker, Jan. 17, 2005). In 2004, the Court unanimously voted to disbar Peasley, stating that his behavior "could not have been more harmful to the justice system." (Ibid.). Peasley had twice been selected as the state prosecutor of the year.
Both McCrimmon and Minnitt remained incarcerated on other unrelated charges. Soto-Fong, whose conviction has not been overturned, was removed from death row because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime. (See also, J. Barrios, "Case Discarded: Tucson Convict Off Death Row," Arizona Daily Star, Oct. 12, 2002).
72. Randall Padgett Alabama Conviction: 1992, Acquitted: 1997
Padgett was convicted of murdering his estranged wife in 1990 and was sentenced to death. The conviction was overturned by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in 1995 (Padgett v. Alabama, 668 So. 2d 78 (1995)). In October, 1997, Padgett was acquitted of all charges at a retrial. There was some evidence presented that another woman had committed the crime. Padgett's brothers, children and other relatives burst into tears when the foreman read the not guilty verdict. (The Gadsden Times, 10/3/97).
1998
73. Robert Lee Miller, Jr. Oklahoma Conviction: 1988, Charges Dismissed: 1998*
Robert Lee Miller was convicted of the rape and murder of two elderly women in 1988 and subsequently sentenced to death. In 1995, Oklahoma County prosecutors agreed to a new trial for Miller after DNA testing proved it was not Miller’s semen found on bedclothes at both crime scenes. During the original trials, prosecutors argued that this semen was Miller’s because it matched his blood type. Despite the DNA results, prosecutors still claimed Miller was involved in the crimes.
In February 1997, Oklahoma County Special Judge Larry Jones dismissed the charges against Miller, saying that there was not enough evidence to justify his continued imprisonment. One month later, Oklahoma County District Judge Karl Gray reinstated the charges in response to an appeal by the District Attorney's office; however, the prosecution ultimately decided to drop all charges and Miller was released.
Read "When the Evidence Lies" by Belinda Luscombe in Time Magazine
*74. Curtis Kyles Louisiana Conviction: 1984, Charges Dismissed: 1998
Kyles was first tried in November 1984, but the ended with a hung jury and a mistrial. In his second trial, in December 1984, Kyles was convicted and sentenced to death. On April 19, 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Kyles' conviction citing prosecutorial misconduct in suppressing exculpatory evidence: The state had withheld considerable information about a paid informant who may have been the actual murderer. (Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 (1995)). Kyles's successful appeal was in the form of a federal habeas corpus petition, since he had lost all of his appeals in state court. Kyles's third trial ended in October 1996 when the jury deadlocked. In two additional trials, one in September 1997 and another in February 1998, each ended with a jury deadlock. After the fifth mistrial, prosecutors decided to drop charges and Kyles was released. (The Times-Picayune, 2/18/98).
1999
75. Shareef Cousin Louisiana Conviction: 1996, Charges Dismissed: 1999
UPDATE: Shareef Cousin was released on parole and currently works at the Southern Center for Human Rights (September 18, 2007).
Shareef Cousin was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Alred Michael Gerardi in a holdup outside a French Quarter restaurant. Cousin was 16 at the time of the crime and 17 when he was sentenced to death, making him the youngest person ever sent to death row in Louisiana.
The Louisiana Supreme Court overturned his conviction because of improperly withheld evidence (Louisiana v. Cousin, 710 So. 2d 1065 (1998)). District Attorney Harry Cornick Sr. decided on January 8, 1999 not to pursue the case further. Cornick Sr. said prosecutors did not have enough evidence to pursue the case. (Associated Press, January 8, 1999). Cousin had maintained that he was at a city recreation department basketball game at the time of the crime and his coach testified that he dropped him off at home just 20 minutes after the slaying. (New York Times, January 10, 1999). He remains incarcerated on unrelated charges.
76. Anthony Porter Illinois Conviction: 1983, Charges Dismissed: 1999
Porter was released in February, 1999 on the motion of the State's Attorney after another man confessed on videotape to the double 1982 murder that sent Porter to death row. Charges were filed against the other man, who claimed he killed in self-defense. The case was broken by investigator Paul Ciolino working with Prof. David Protess and journalism students from Northwestern University. Their investigation also found that another witness had been pressured by police to testify against Porter. Porter came within 2 days of execution in 1998 and was only spared because the Court wanted to look into his mental competency. Porter has an IQ of 51. His conviction was officially reversed on March 11, 1999. (New York Times, 2/6/99 and 3/12/99).
Read "Anthony Porter" by The Justice Project
77. Steven Smith Illinois Conviction: 1985, Acquitted: 1999
Steven Smith was convicted of the murder of Virdeen Willis Jr., an off-duty assistant warden at the Illinois penitentiary in Pontiac, in 1985. In 1990, the state Supreme Court reversed Smith’s first conviction and cast doubt on the prosecution’s theory. Smith was retired again in 1996, mainly due to the testimony of Debrah Caraway, who claimed to have witnessed the murder. Caraway proved to be an unreliable witness and she provided the prosecution with contradicting accounts of the crime.
The Illinois Supreme Court overturned Smith’s conviction in 1999 because of this unreliable evidence. As a result, Smith was immediately released and is not subject to re-trial. Justice James Heiple, writing for the court said, "When the state cannot meet its burden of proof, the defendant must go free." (Illinois v. Smith, 708 N.E.2d 365 (1999)). On August 1, 2002, Illinois Governor George Ryan issued a pardon to Smith based on innocence. Smith is the 11th death row inmate to be freed in Illinois since the death penalty was reinstated and the 9th since 1994. (Chicago Sun-Times, February 20, 1999 and August 2, 2002).
Read "The Snitch System" by Northwestern University School of Law Center on Wrongful Conviction
78. Ronald Keith Williamson Oklahoma Conviction: 1988, Charges Dismissed: 1999
Ronald Williamson and Dennis Fritz were charged with the murder and rape of Deborah Sue Carter, which occurred in Ada, Oklahoma in 1982. They were arrested four years after the crime. Both were convicted and Williamson received the death penalty. In 1997, a federal appeals court overturned Williamson's conviction on the basis of ineffectiveness of counsel (Williamson v. Ward, 110 F.3d 1508 (10th Cir. 1997) aff'g 904 F. Supp. 1529 (E. D. OK 1995)). The Court noted that the lawyer had failed to investigate and present to the jury the fact that another man had confessed to the crime. The lawyer had been paid a total of $3,200 for the defense. Recently, DNA tests from the crime scene did not match either Williamson or Fritz, but did implicate Glen Gore, a former suspect in the case. All charges against the two defendants were dismissed on April 15, 1999 and they were released. Williamson suffers from bipolar depression and has been hospitalized for treatment. (Daily Oklahoman, 3/18/99 and New York Times 4/16/99).
Read "Life After Death Row" by Sara Rimer in The New York Times Magazine
See Frontline: Burden of Innocence by PBS
Watch an interview with Ronald Williamson
79. Ronald Jones Illinois Conviction: 1989, Charges Dismissed: 1999
Ronald Jones, 49, was freed after more than eight years on Illinois’ death row after prosecutors dropped all charges against him. Jones was charged with the 1985 rape and murder of Debra Smith on Chicago’s South Side (Chicago Tribune, May 18, 1999). Jones, who was convicted partially on the basis of his confession, testified at trial that the police had beaten the confession out of him. Jones was a homeless man with an IQ around 80 when he was convicted of the rape and murder. Prosecutors at his conviction described him as a "cold brutal rapist" who "should never see the light of day." (NY Times, May 19, 1999).
Recent DNA testing revealed that Jones was not the rapist and there was no evidence of any accomplice to the murder. The Cook County state's attorney filed a motion asking the Illinois Supreme Court to vacate Jones's conviction in 1997. In May 1999, the state dropped all charges against Jones. He is being temporarily detained pending another matter in a different state (Associated Press, May 18, 1999).
*80. Clarence Richard Dexter Missouri Conviction: 1991, Charges Dismissed: 1999
Dexter was accused in 1990 of murdering his wife of 22 years. Police overlooked significant evidence that the murder occurred in the course of a botched robbery and quickly decided that Dexter must have committed the crime. Dexter's trial lawyer was in poor health and under federal investigation for tax fraud and failed to challenge blood evidence presented at trial. The conviction was overturned in 1997 because of prosecutorial misconduct. (Missouri v. Dexter, 954 S.W.2d 332 (1997)) The defense then had the blood evidence carefully examined and showed that the conclusions presented at trial were completely wrong. The state's blood expert admitted that his previous findings overstated the case against Dexter. On the eve of Dexter's retrial in June, 1999, the prosecution dismissed the charges and Dexter was freed. (Missouri State Public Defender System Memo, 6/7/99 and Kansas City Star, 6/9/99)
81. Warren Douglas Manning South Carolina Conviction: 1989, Acquitted: 1999*
Manning was convicted in 1989 for the slaying of a South Carolina police officer in 1988. The conviction was overturned in 1991 (State v. Manning, 409 S.E.2d 372 (SC 1991)). Manning was retried in 1993, but the case ended in a mistrial. Manning's third trial in 1995 resulted in another conviction, but it was overturned on December 29, 1997, when the South Carolina Supreme Court held that the trial court abused its discretion by granting the State's motion to change venue for the selection of the jury. The Court ordered a new trial. (State v. Manning, 495 S.E.2d 191 (SC 1997)). The subsequent trial was declared a mistrial, and prosecutors pursued the case a fifth time. In 1999, at his last trial, Manning was represented by expert death penalty attorney, David Bruck. Manning maintained that although he had been arrested by the officer for driving under license suspension, Manning escaped when the officer stopped another car. The state's case was entirely circumstantial, and the jury acquitted Manning after less than 3 hours of deliberation. (Morning News (South Carolina), 10/1/00).
*82. Alfred Rivera North Carolina Conviction: 1997, Charges Dismissed 1999
Alfred Rivera, 28, was sentenced to death in the shooting deaths of Michael A. Nicholson and James E. Smith. Nicholson and Smith were shot in the head at close range inside Nicholson’s apartment in 1996. After two years on death row, the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Rivera ruling that the trial judge should have allowed jurors to hear testimony that Rivera may have been framed. (North Carolina v. Rivera, 514 S.E.2d 720 (1999)).
Rivera’s defense was bolstered when a witness came forward to testify that he had heard Antonio T. Bryant claim that he planned to blame the shootings on Rivera. Bryant was one of three men with Rivera at Nicholson’s apartment, according to some testimony. Conflicting eyewitness testimony as to whether Rivera was actually at the scene of the crime, or whether he was visiting his girlfriend, was sufficient to cast doubts in the minds of the jurors, who acquitted Rivera of two counts of first-degree murder. (Winston-Salem Journal, November 23, 1999).
Following the verdict, three jurors identified that they voted for acquittal because the prosecution was unable to prove that Rivera was at the scene of the shootings. Leaving the courthouse, Rivera hugged his three-year-old son, stating that he was “elated” and “felt vindicated.” (Winston-Salem Journal, November 23, 1999).
2000
83. Steve Manning Illinois Conviction: 1993, Charges Dismissed: 2000
Steve Manning became the 13th inmate exonerated in Illinois, when prosecutors announced that they are dropping charges and no longer plan to retry Manning for the 1990 slaying of trucking company owner Jimmy Pellegrino. Manning was convicted and sentenced to death on the word of informant Tommy Dye, who testified that Manning twice confessed to him when they shared a jail cell. However, secret tape recordings of the two men's conversations, made at the request of the FBI, revealed no such confession, and Manning vehemently denied confessing. In exchange for his testimony, Dye received an 8-year reduction on his prison sentence on theft and firearms charges. Manning remains in prison on unrelated charges. (Illinois v. Manning (695 N.E.2d 423 (1998) and Chicago Tribune, 1/19/00).
UPDATE: Despite being exonerated in Illinois, Manning was being held in Missouri on a kidnapping conviction. On February 26, 2004, Manning was also cleared of those charges and walked out of prison a free man. New investigations revealed that the informant who testified against Manning had received special treatment while in prison. A federal appeals court had ordered a new trial on the kidnapping charges in November of 2002, but prosecutors decided instead to drop all charges. Manning was the 13th person exonerated in Illinois and this led Governor George Ryan to declare a moratorium on executions as exonerations exceeded excutions. (Chicago Tribune, February 27, 2004)
Read "The Snitch System" by Northwestern University School of Law Center on Wrongful Conviction
84. Eric Clemmons Missouri Conviction: 1987, Acquitted: 2000
In 1983, Eric Clemmons started a 50-year prison sentence for killing a man in St. Louis during a fight. In 1987, he was accused of stabbing Henry Johnson, a fellow inmate, to death. At trial, one guard testified that he had seen Clemmons stab Henry Johnson. Three other inmates testified that Fred Bagby was the man who had stabbed Johnson. However, the prosecutor claimed that the inmates blamed Bagby because he was conveniently killed before the trial began. A jury convicted Clemmons of the murder and a Judge sentenced him to die.
After losing all his appeals in state court and his initial appeal in federal court, Clemmons received papers from another inmate, including a memo written from Captain A.M. Cross, who had testified against Johnson at trial. The memo stated that an inmate had told Gross immediately after the attack that Bagby killed Johnson. Armed with new evidence, and a new attorney, Clemmons filed a federal appeal with the same federal court that had previously rejected his appeal. The three-judge panel reversed their opinion and ordered a new trial. (Clemmons v. Delo, 124 F.3d 944 (8th Cir. 1997)).
At trial, Clemmons presented a letter from Johnson to a prison official in which Johnson described an altercation with Fred Bagby. Furthermore, an expert testified that the blood found on Clemmons’ sweatshirt and hat was not splatter from a stab wound, but was instead consistent with a bloody man running into him. When all the new evidence was presented at re-trial, a circuit court jury acquitted Clemmons in 3 hours on February 18, 2000. Clemmons remains incarcerated on other charges, which he is also challenging. (Kansas City Star, February 27, 2000).
85. Joseph Nahume Green Florida Conviction: 1993, Charges Dismissed: 2000
Joseph Nahume Green was convicted of the 1992 killing of the society page editor of the weekly Bradford County Telegraph, Judith Miscally, and was subsequently sentenced to death. Prosecutors dismissed charges on March 16, 2000 of the murder. (St. Petersburg Times March 17, 2000).
Green, who has always maintained his innocence, was convicted largely upon the testimony of the state's only eyewitness, Lonnie Thompson. In appeals process, the Florida Supreme Court questioned Thompson’s fitness in ordering a new trial Green, citing that Thompson's testimony was “often inconsistent and contradictory.” (Nahume Green v. Florida, 688 So. 2d 301 (1996)). Considering the importance of Thompson’s testimony to the prosecution’s case, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial in Alachua County.
During the re-trial, Green’s attorneys challenged Thompson’s competency. The court found that Thompson was mildly retarded and had suffered head traumas that caused memory problems. Based on these facts, the trial judge found Thompson incompetent to testify, and the 1st District Court of Appeal affirmed the decision. This dismissal of testimony, coupled with the fact that the prosecution could not present any physical evidence linking Green to the crime, led Circuit Judge Robert P. Cates, who had originally sentenced Green to die, to dismiss all charges, saying that there was no evidence tying Green to the murder (St. Petersburg Times, November 28, 2001).
Read "Ex-Death Row Inmate..." by Sydney P. Freedberg in The St. Petersburg Times
86. Earl Washington Virginia Conviction: 1984, Commuted to life: 1994, Absolute Pardon: 2000
Earl Washington suffers from mental retardation. After he was arrested on another charge in 1983, police convinced him to make a statement concerning the rape and murder of a woman in Culpeper in 1982. He later recanted that statement. Subsequent DNA tests confirmed that Washington did not rape the victim, who had lived long enough to state that there was only one perpetrator of the crime. The DNA results combined with the victim's statement all but exonerated Washington. Shortly before leaving office in 1994, Governor Wilder commuted Washington's sentence to life with the possibility of parole. In 2000, additional DNA tests were ordered and the results again excluded Washington as the rapist. In October 2000, Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore granted Earl Washington an absolute pardon. (Statement of Governor Jim Gilmore Regarding the Pardon of Earl Washington, 10/2/00; New York Times, 10/3/00; and Washington Post, 9/24/00, 10/4/00, and 2/15/01).
Read "Life After Death Row" by Sara Rimer in The New York Times Magazine
Read "A Broken System: Earl Washington, Jr." by The Justice Project
87. William Nieves Pennsylvania Conviction: 1994, Acquitted: 2000
On October 20, 2000, William Nieves was freed from death row when a Philadelphia jury acquitted him of the 1992 murder of Eric McAiley. Nieves was convicted of the murder in 1994, but maintained his innocence. In 1997, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that Nieves was inadequately represented at his first trial and granted him a new trial (Pennsylvania v. Nieves, 746 A.2d 1102 (2000)). "William Nieves' first trial was not presented in the way it should have been presented, and that's wrong when someone is being sentenced to death," said Nieves' new attorney, former prosecutor John McMahon, Jr. At the re-trial, McMahon pointed out inconsistencies in the key witness's identification of the killer (Associated Press, 10/21/00) .
Update: Nieves died on Oct. 8, 2005 from liver problems that he claimed were not properly treated while he was in prison. (Associated Press, Oct. 13, 2005).
88. Frank Lee Smith Florida Conviction: 1985, Charges Dismissed: 2000
Frank Lee Smith, who had been convicted of a 1985 rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl, and who died of cancer in January 2000 while still on death row, was cleared of these charges by DNA testing, according to an aide to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. After the trial, the chief eyewitness recanted her testimony. Nevertheless, Smith was scheduled for execution in 1990, but received a stay. Prosecutor Carolyn McCann was told by the FBI lab which conducted the DNA tests that: "He has been excluded. He didn't do it." Another man, who is currently in a psychiatric facility, is now the main suspect. (Washington Post, 12/15/00 (AP) and St. Petersburg Times (Florida) 12/15/00).
Read "Requiem for Frank Lee Smith" by Frontline
89. Michael Graham Louisiana Conviction: 1987, Charges Dismissed: 2000
90. Albert Burrell Louisiana Conviction: 1987, Charges Dismissed: 2000
After spending 13 years on death row, Michael Graham was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on December 28, 2000 after the Louisiana Attorney General dismissed charges against him and his co-defendant Albert Burrell. Burrell was released on January 3, 2001. Graham and Burrell were sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder of an elderly couple. Earlier this year, a judge threw out their convictions because of a lack of physical evidence and suspect witness testimony used at trial. Prosecutor Dan Grady acknowledged that the case was weak and "should never have been brought to [the] grand jury." During the trial, prosecutors withheld key information from the defense, failed to produce any physical evidence, and relied only on witness testimony, which has since been discredited. Dismissing the charges, the Attorney General's office cited a "total lack of credible evidence" and stated "prosecutors would deem it a breach of ethics to proceed to trial." Recent DNA tests proved that blood found at the victims' home did not belong to Burrell or Graham. The trial attorneys appointed to defend Burrell were later disbarred for other reasons. (Associated Press 12/28/00 and The Advocate Online, 3/19/01).
Read "A Broken System: Michael Graham" by The Justice Project
91. Oscar Lee Morris California Conviction: 1983, Charges Dismissed: 2000
Morris was convicted in 1983 and sentenced to death. His death sentence was vacated by the California Supreme Court in 1988. Although the court did not overturn his conviction, it later ordered an evidentiary hearing when the state's chief witness against Morris issued a deathbed recantation. After the evidentiary hearing, the Los Angeles County Superior Court granted Morris a new trial. Prosecutors decided not to retry the case and Morris was freed in 2000. (L.A. Daily Journal, October 29, 2002). At his initial trial, Morris was represented by Ronald Slick, who was criticized in 2001 for giving prosecutors confidential documents to help them keep a former client on death row. (Id.). Morris's chief accuser was Joe West. West implicated Morris after being arrested while on parole. "Joe West testified on direct examination by the prosecutor that his motive for cooperating with the prosecution was a quarrel with defendant which resulted in his attempt on defendant's life..." (People v. Morris, 756 P.2d 843, 857 (CA 1988)). According to the California Supreme Court, "no motive or explanation for the murder was disclosed at trial other than the statement attributed to defendant by Joe West" that Morris wanted to kill someone. (Id. at 854). The prosecutor in the case, Arthur Jean, Jr., now a L.A. Country Superior Court Judge, withheld from the defense that West was given special treatment in light of his testimony. The California Supreme Court noted that Jean had written two pretrial letters on West's behalf, asking a fellow prosecutor and the parole board to grant West leniency for other crimes to reward his testimony against Morris. The California Supreme Court held that the prosecutor's failure to disclose these actions violated Morris's due process rights. The court added, "The nondisclosure was compounded, moreover, by the district attorney's affirmative representation to the jury that West had not received any benefits in return for his testimony.Ó (Id. at 863). Jean told jurors in the case that "[There] is no evidence, not a shred, and you would have it if it existed, if Mr. West got any benefit from this, that is, in the handling of his criminal case." (Id.). West later confessed that he fabricated the entire case against Morris. "The testimony I gave against Oscar Morris...in 1978 was a lie," said West in a 1997 sworn declaration a few weeks before his death. (L.A. Daily Journal, October 29, 2002). (Note: Morris was originally charged with robbery and murder. The robbery charge was reversed by the California Supreme Court in its 1988 ruling when the court overturned his sentence.)
2001
92. Peter Limone Massachusetts Conviction: 1968, Charges Dismissed: 2001
Thirty -three years after being convicted and sentenced to death for a 1965 murder, Peter Limone's conviction has been overturned (Commonwealth v. Limone, 2001 Mass. Super. LEXIS 7 (2001)) and the case against him officially dropped. The move came as a result of a Justice Department task force's discovery of compelling new evidence that Limone and his co-defendants Joseph Salvati, Henry Tamelo, and Louis Greco were actually innocent of the murder of Edward Deegan. In 1968, all four were convicted and Limone was sentenced to die in Massachusetts' electric chair, but was spared in 1974 when Massachusetts abolished the death penalty and his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Salvati, who was released from prison in 1997 when the governor commuted his sentence, received word from prosecutors that they were dropping the case against him as well. Tamelo and Greco both died in prison. At trial, the main witness against the four men was Joseph Barboza, a hit man cooperating with prosecutors, who later admitted that he had fabricated much of his testimony. The recently revealed FBI documents show that informants had told the FBI before the murder that Deegan would soon be killed and by whom, and a memorandum after the crime listed the men involved. Neither list included Limone, Salvati, Tamelo or Greco. (New York Times, 2/2/01 and Boston Herald, 1/21/01)
Read "Free at Last" by People Magazine
93. Gary Drinkard Alabama Conviction: 1995, Charges Dismissed: 2001
Drinkard was sentenced to death in 1995, but his conviction was overturned by the Alabama Supreme Court in 2000 (Ex parte Gary Drinkard, 777 So. 2d 295 (2000)). A team of lawyers and investigators from Alabama and the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta spent hundreds of hours preparing for the case and were able to prove that Drinkard was at home at the time the crime was committed. (Decatur Daily, 5/27/01 and Washington Post, 5/28/01).
94. Joaquin Martinez Florida Conviction: 1997, Acquitted: 2001
Former death row inmate Joaquin Martinez was acquitted of all charges at his retrial for a 1995 murder in Florida. Martinez's earlier conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court because of improper statements by a police detective at trial. (Martinez v. Florida, 761 So. 2d 1074 (2000)). The prosecution did not seek the death penalty in Martinez's second trial after key prosecution witnesses changed their stories and recanted their testimony. An audio tape of alleged incriminating statements by Martinez, which was used at the first trial, was ruled inadmissible at retrial because it was inaudible. The new jury, however, heard evidence that the transcript of the inaudible tape had been prepared by the victim's father, who was the manager of the sheriff's office evidence room at the time of the murder and who had offered a $10,000 reward in the case. (The Tampa Bay Tribune, 6/7/01). Both the Pope and the King of Spain had tried to intervene on behalf of Martinez, who is a Spanish national. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar welcomed the verdict, saying: "I'm very happy that this Spaniard was declared not guilty. I've always been against the death penalty and I always will be." (Tampa Bay Tribune (AP) 6/6/01).
95. Jeremy Sheets Nebraska Conviction: 1997, Charges Dismissed: 2001
Jeremy Sheets was released after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Nebraska Supreme Court decision overturning his conviction. Prosecutors then dropped the charges against him. (Associated Press, 6/14/01). In September, 2000, the Nebraska high court unanimously ruled that a tape recording made by an alleged accomplice who committed suicide prior to the trial was the kind of statement deemed "highly suspect," "inherently unreliable," and hence inadmissible without the opportunity for Sheets to cross-examine. (Nebraska v Sheets, 618 N.W.2d 117 (2000)). The statements (later recanted) were made by Adam Barnett, who was arrested for the 1992 rape and murder of the same victim as in Sheets' case. Barnett confessed to the crime and implicated Sheets. In exchange for the taped statement, Barnett received a plea bargain in which he avoided a charge of first degree murder, did not have an additional weapons charge filed, and received a commitment for his safety while incarcerated. Barnett's statement was the key evidence used against Sheets at trial. (State v. Sheets, 618 N.W.2d 117 (Neb. 2000) and Associated Press, 6/12/01). See also Jeremy Sheets' website.
96. Charles Irvin Fain Idaho Conviction: 1983, Charges Dismissed: 2001
Charles Irvin Fain, a Vietnam veteran who spent over 18 years on Idaho's death row, was freed with all charges dismissed in 2001. Although Fain always maintained his innocence, he was convicted and sentenced to death for the February 1982 kidnapping, sexual assault and drowning of 9-year-old Daralyn Johnson. Fain, who was unemployed and living with his parents in Redmond, Oregon at the time of the crime, had lived in Idaho until June 1981. He returned to Idaho in March of 1982 to look for work. Fain moved in with a neighbor of the Johnson family, and in September of 1982, police asked that he provide hair samples. Fain agreed, and those samples were the key evidence against him in his trial. Testifying on behalf of Fain were witnesses who placed Fain in Oregon in February of 1982. However, the jury found Fain guilty, primarily on the forensic testimony of an FBI specialist about the hairs, and the testimony of two jailhouse informants who claimed that Fain made "incriminating statements" about the case. With the help of new attorneys, Fain was able to get the physical evidence tested under a new DNA testing process known as Mitochondrial DNA Testing. Results of those tests not only excluded Fain, but pointed to two other suspects. The US District Court judge who originally would not consider Fain's innocence claims vacated the conviction on July 6, 2001 and ordered prosecutors to either retry or release Fain. Canyon County District Attorney David Young announced that the state would not retry Fain, who was released from the maximum-security facility in Boise, Idaho on August 23, 2001. (Los Angeles Times, August 19 and 24, 2001) Young stated that "justice requires the action we have taken today," indicating that the investigation for the killer would be re-opened. (New York Times, August 24, 2001)
2002
97. Juan Roberto Melendez Florida Conviction: 1984, Charges Dismissed: 2002
In 1984, a jury convicted Juan Melendez, then 33, of killing Delbart Baker and leaving him on the floor of his beauty school in Auburndale, FL. A convicted felon testified that Melendez admitted to the crime, and another witness with a grudge against Melendez put him at the scene. No physical evidence was found connecting Melendez, a migrant fruit picker with a 9th-grade education, to the crime. Nevertheless, a jury sentenced Melendez to die, and in 1986, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the conviction and death sentence. In a little noticed opinion, however, Justice Rosemary Barkett, the dissenting voice on the Florida Supreme Court raised doubts about the evidence, “there are cases […] when a review of the evidence leaves one with the fear that an execution would perhaps be terminating the life of an innocent person” (St. Petersburg Times, January 4, 2002). Melendez lost another round of appeals in the mid 1990s.
Melendez spent nearly 18 years on Florida's death row before Linda McDermott, a young death penalty attorney with the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, took an interest in his case. In December 2001, Florida Circuit Court Judge Barbara Fleischer overturned Melendez's capital murder conviction after determining that prosecutors in his original trial withheld critical evidence, thereby undermining confidence in the original verdict (St. Petersburg Times, January 4, 2002). The judge noted that no physical evidence linked Melendez to the crime. The state had used the testimony of two witnesses whose credibility was later challenged with new evidence. (Associated Press, 12/5/01) Following the reversal of the conviction, prosecutors announced the state's decision to abandon charges against Melendez (Associated Press, 1/3/02).
See "Juan Melendez" by Journey of Hope
98. Ray Krone Arizona Conviction: 1992, Charges Dismissed: 2002
On April 8, 2002, Ray Krone was released from prison in Arizona after DNA testing showed that he did not commit the murder for which he was convicted 10 years earlier. Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and Phoenix Police Chief Harold Hurtt announced at a news conference on April 8, 2002 that new DNA tests vindicated Krone and that they would seek his release pending a hearing next month to vacate the murder conviction. Romley stated, "[Krone] deserves an apology from us, that's for sure. A mistake was made here. . . . What do you say to him? An injustice was done and we will try to do better. And we're sorry." Krone was first convicted in 1992, based largely on circumstantial evidence and testimony that bite marks on the victim matched Krone's teeth. He was sentenced to death. Three years later he received a new trial (State v. Krone, 897 P.2d 621 (Ariz. 1995) (en banc)), but was again found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in 1996. Krone's post-conviction defense attorney, Alan Simpson, obtained a court order for DNA tests. The results not only exculpated Krone, but they pointed to another man, Kenneth Phillips, as the assailant. Prosecutor William Culbertson told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Alfred Fenzel that the chances are 1.3 quadrillion to one that DNA found in saliva on the victim's tank top came from Phillips. (The Arizona Republic, 4/9/02).
Read DPIC's Press Release.
Read "Free at Last" by People Magazine
See "Ray Krone" by Journey of Hope
99. Thomas H. Kimbell, Jr. Pennsylvania Conviction: 1998, Acquitted: 2002
Thomas H. Kimbell was sentenced to death in 1998 following his conviction for the murder of Bonnie Dryfuse, her two daughters, and her niece. All four were stabbed multiple times and had their throats slashed in the Dryfuse family’s rural trailer home. Kimbell, a one-time crack addict, was convicted or the murders despite the fact that the police found no eyewitnesses or physical evidence linking him to the crime.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2000 citing the unfair exclusion of evidence that would have shed light on Kimbell’s innocence (State v. Kimbell, 759 A.2d 1273 (Pa. 2000)). The excluded evidence would have placed the husband of one of the victims at home, the scene of the crime, shortly before the murders. Kimbell maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration, despite testimony from witnesses that he had been near the scene of the crime shortly before the murders and despite the testimony of several individuals, including three jailhouse informants, that he had admitted committing the murders. At the retrial, jurors heard both possible versions of the crime. In addition, one of the jailhouse informants had passed away and another recanted his earlier testimony, saying he had been pressured into giving it. After deliberating for more than a day, the jury found Kimbell, 40, not guilty on all charges (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/4/02). His attorney was Thomas W. Leslie.
100. Larry Osborne Kentucky Conviction: 1999, Charges Dismissed: 2002
Larry Osborne, at one time the youngest man on Kentucky’s death row, was freed after a jury acquitted him in a second trial of murdering an 82-year old man and his 76-year old wife in 1997. The murders occurred when an intruder smashed a window and broke into the victims’ home in southeastern Kentucky, bludgeoning the couple and setting fire to the house. Joe Reid, 15, a friend who testified he had seen Osborne break into the couple’s home and later come out with a pocketful of cash, drowned several months before Osborne’s trial. Reid testified before a grand jury, which subsequently indicted Osborne on charges of murder, robbery, burglary and arson. Osborne’s attorneys objected to having Reid’s testimony used at trial, asserting that his testimony was tantamount to hearsay because the dead teen could not be cross-examined. The trial judge disagreed and Osborne was sentenced to death following his conviction.
The Kentucky Supreme Court disagreed with the trial judge, and in a unanimous opinion, reversed Osborne’s conviction citing the use of inadmissible hearsay testimony (Commonwealth v. Osborne, 43 S.W.2d 234 (Ky. 2001)). The second jury to hear his case acquitted Osborne of all charges, and he was freed immediately. Osborne was only 17 at the time of the crime, and ended up on death row despite the lack of physical evidence (Louisville Courier-Journal, 8/2/02). He is the first Kentucky death row inmate to be found innocent since the state reinstituted capital punishment in 1976 (Las Vegas Sun, 8/02/02).
Read DPIC's Press Release
Read "Youngest Man on Death Row..." by The Associated Press
2003
101-104 - Illinois Governor Pardons Four Death Row Inmates Based on Innocence
On January 10, 2003, Illinois Governor George Ryan granted four pardons based on innocence. The men pardoned, Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley, Leroy Orange, and Stanley Howard, were all members of the "Death Row 10," a group of Illinois death row prisoners who claimed that they were the victims of police torture. The four pardoned men maintained that their confessions were given only after they were beaten, had guns pointed at them, were subjected to electric shock, or were nearly suffocated with typewriter covers placed over their heads. In 2002, a special prosecutor was named to conduct a broad inquiry into the allegations from more than 60 suspects who, like the Death Row 10, claimed that they were tortured by former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge or his detectives at the Burnside Area Violent Crimes headquarters in Chicago during the 1980s. Jon Burge was fired by the Chicago Police Board in 1993 for his role in the torture of another prisoner. Governor Ryan examined the cases of all the Illinois death row inmates and selected these four for pardons based on their coerced confessions and other information. Governor Ryan commuted the death sentences of 167 other inmates, but did not pardon them. (Chicago Tribune, January 10, 2003).
101. Aaron Patterson Illinois Conviction: 1986, Pardoned: 2003
Aaron Patterson spent 17 years on death row and always maintained his innocence in the stabbing deaths of an elderly couple in 1986. (Chicago Tribune, January 10, 2003). During his pre-trial interrogation, Patterson etched the following words on an interrogation room bench: I lied about murders police threatened me with violence slapped and suffocated me with plastic - no phone - no dad signed false statement to murders (Tonto) Aaron. (State v. Patterson, 735 N.E.2d 616, 627-28 (Ill. 2000)). In addition, photographs of the interrogation room revealed the phrase "Aaron lied" etched in the door of the room. (Id.). There was no physical evidence tying Patterson to the crime, and fingerprints recovered from the scene did not belong to him. In addition, Patterson's former girlfriend testified that she was with Patterson on the night the of the murders. In 2000, the Illinois Supreme Court granted Patterson an evidentiary hearing to determine whether his attorney was ineffective for failing to present evidence that the confession was coerced. The Court stated: "Evidence identifying defendant as perpetrator consisted of (1) the oft-changing testimony of a teenager [Marva Hall] whose cousin had been a suspect in the crime; and (2) the testimony from the police officers and assistant State's Attorney concerning defendant's confession." (Id. at 633). After Patterson's conviction, Marva Hall swore in an affidavit that prosecutors pressured her into implicating Patterson. "It was like I was reading a script," she said of her testimony. Hall told Northwestern University journalism students who were investigating the case: "I helped send [an] innocent man to jail." (Newsweek, May 31, 1999).
102. Madison Hobley Illinois Conviction: 1987, Pardoned: 2003
Madison Hobley was convicted of setting fire to an apartment building in 1987 that claimed the lives of seven tenants, including his wife and child. Hobley maintained his innocence, claiming that his confession was the product of police torture. At trial, the evidence against Hobley consisted of the testimony of Andre Council, a suspected arsonist who claimed to have seen Hobley buying gasoline before the fire, and a gas station attendant who could not identify Hobley in a lineup and could only state that Hobley "favored" the man who purchased the gasoline. Hobley's trial was marred by prosecutiorial and juror misconduct. The Illinois Supreme Court concluded that "despite [Hobley's] pretrial requests for production, the State failed to disclose to him the evidence of two pieces of exculpatory evidence: (1) a report that defendant's fingerprints were not on the gasoline can introduced against him at trial, and (2) a second gasoline can found at the fire scene." (State v. Hobley, 696 N.E.2d 313, 331 (Ill. 1998) (emphasis in original)). Records also showed that police destroyed the second gasoline can after the defense issued a subpoena for it, a move the Illinois Supreme Court said supported a finding that the destruction was "motivated by bad faith." (Id.). In addition, post-conviction affidavits of jurors stated that some jurors were intimidated by non-jurors while they were sequestered at a hotel, and that they were prejudiced by the acts of the jury foreperson, a police-officer who believed Hobley was guilty. The affidavits also stated that jurors brought newspapers with articles about the case into the jury room and that they repeatedly violated the trial court's sequestration order. (Id. at 338). The Court remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether prosecutors violated Hobley's constitutional rights by withholding evidence, and on the issue of whether the jurors were intimidated during deliberations. (Id. at 345). In remanding the case, the Court stated: "we stress that we are deeply troubled by the nature of the allegations in this case." (Id. at 338).
Read "The Snitch System" by Northwestern University School of Law Center on Wrongful Conviction
103. Leroy Orange Illinois Conviction: 1984, Pardoned: 2003
Leroy Orange was convicted in 1985 of four counts each of murder and concealment of a homicidal death. He was found guilty and sentenced to death largely on the basis of his confession. Orange later stated that his confession was obtained by police torture and that he was innocent. However, the Illinois Supreme Court stated that there was “no evidence of physical trauma, and no witnesses were available to support the defendant’s allegations of abuse, despite the testimony of a pathologist who asserted that the Orange’s description of his confession was “consistent with someone who had been tortured.” (State v. Orange, 659 N.E.2d 935, 947 (Ill. 1995)).
At Orange's trial, his half-brother, Leonard Kidd, testified that, although Orange was at the victims' apartment earlier in the evening, he left before the murders and took no part in the crime. Kidd even testified that he was solely responsible for the murders. Shirely Evans, a friend of Orange, testified that Orange was with her the night of the murders (State v. Orange, 521 N.E.2d 69, 72 (Ill. 1988). Nevertheless, Orange was sentenced to death, a fact that might be largely attributed to ineffective assistance of counsel. At trial, Orange was represented by attorney Earl Washington, who was paid only $400 to represent Orange and who had three Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) charges pending at the time of Orange's trial (State v. Orange, 659 N.E.2d 935, 947 (Ill. 1995)). The Chicago Tribune singled out Washington for his ineptitude, noting that the state filed new disciplinary charges against him. Those charges alleged that Washington's representation of Orange and others "amounted to professional misconduct." (Chicago Tribune, November 15, 1999).
Leroy Orange spent 19 years on death row before he was pardoned by Governor Ryan in 2003.
104. Stanley Howard Illinois Conviction: 1987, Pardoned: 2003
Stanley Howard was convicted in 1987 of the murder of Oliver Ridgell. (Chicago Tribune, January 10, 2003). Ridgell was shot while sitting in his car with Tecora Mullen. Mullen, who was unharmed, identified Howard as the shooter. Howard was arrested on an unrelated warrant and he seemed to fit the description of the shooter provided by Tecora Mullen.
At trial, one of the main pieces of evidence against Howard was his statement to the police. Howard, however, always maintained that his confession was obtained by police torture. In his statement, Howard said he was having dinner with his girlfriend, then went to the house of a friend, Byron Hopkins, to “pick up a gun” so he could “try to get me some money.” (State v. Howard, 588 N.E.2d 1044 (Ill. 1991)). In his statement, Howard also admitted that he ran to his girlfriend’s house after shooting Ridgell, which was a short distance from the crime scene. The defense team sought to discredit Howard’s confession at trial, pointing out all the contradictions in his statement. Howard’s girlfriend, Terry Jones, testified that she was living in a distant part of the city at the time of the crime, and Byron Hopkins presented a stipulation at trial that he did not own a 9-milimeter gun of the type that was used in the crime. The other evidence used against Howard was the testimony of Mullen, who had identified Howard in a lineup conducted in November 1984. However, Mullen admitted that it was dark and raining outside at the time of the shooting. In addition, Mullen's husband was originally a suspect in the murder (Id.), an alternative theory of the crime that the defense counsel was not allowed to present to the jury according to the Illinois Supreme Court (Id.).
Howard was pardoned by Governor Ryan, and subsequently removed from death row but remains incarcerated for an unrelated offense. (Chicago Tribune, January 10, 2003).
105. Rudolph Holton Florida Conviction: 1986, Charges Dismissed: 2003
Florida death row inmate Rudolph Holton was released on January 24, 2003, after prosecutors dropped all charges against him. (Miami Herald, January 25, 2003). Holton's conviction for a 1986 rape and murder was overturned in 2001 when a Florida Circuit Court held that the state withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense that pointed to another perpetrator. The court also found that new DNA tests contradicted the trial testimony of a state's witness. At trial, a prosecution witness testified that hairs found in the victim's mouth linked Holton to the crime. However, recent DNA tests conclusively exclude Holton as the contributor of the hair, and found that the hairs most likely belonged to the victim. (Florida v. Holton, No. 86-08931 (Fla. Cir. Ct. Sept. 2001) (order granting, in part, motion to vacate judgment)). In December 2002, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision to reverse Holton's conviction and sentence. (Florida v. Holton, No. SC01-2671, 2002 Fla. LEXIS 2687 slip op. at 1 (Fla. December 18, 2002)). Prosecutors announced in January 2003 that the state was dropping all charges against Holton, who had spent 16 years on death row.
(Miami Herald, January 25, 2003)
Read "Part I: The Innocence Defense" by David Karp in The St. Petersburg Times (January 24, 2003)
Read "Part II: The Innocence Defense" by David Karp in The St. Petersburg Times (January 24, 2003)
Read "Part I: The Innocence Defense" by David Karp in The St. Petersburg Times
Read "Part II: The Innocence Defense" by David Karp in The St. Petersburg Times
106. Lemuel Prion Arizona Convicted: 1999, Charges Dismissed: 2003
On March 14, 2003, the Pima County (Arizona) Attorney's Office dismissed all charges against death row inmate Lemuel Prion, who had been convicted of murdering Diana Vicari in 1999. In August 2002, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction, stating that the trial court committed reversible error by excluding evidence of another suspect. According to the Supreme Court, "There was no physical evidence identifying Prion as her killer," and the trial court abused its discretion in not allowing the defense to submit evidence that a third party, John Mazure, was the actual killer. Mazure, who was also a suspect in the murder, was known to have a violent temper, saw Vicari the night of her disappearance, concealed information from the police when they questioned him, and "appeared at work the next morning after Vicari's disappearance so disheveled and disoriented that he was fired." The Arizona Supreme Court held that the third-party evidence "supports the notion that Mazure had the opportunity and motive to commit this crime. . . ." (Arizona v. Prion, No. CR-99-0378-AP (2002)). Prion's conviction was based largely on the testimony of Troy Olson, who identified Prion as the man who was with Vicari on the night of her murder. However, when police first showed Olson photographs of Prion, Olson could not identify Prion. According to the Court, "[Olson] stated that the person in the photograph did not look familiar." Seventeen months later, after seeing a newspaper picture of Prion labeling him as the prime suspect in the Vicari murder, Olson believed he could identify Prion. The Arizona Supreme Court also held that the trial court committed prejudicial error in failing to sever the Vicari murder trial from Prion's trial for another crime, stating that "any connection between the two crimes is attenuated at best." Prosecutors admitted that Prion would most likely have been acquitted if prosecuted under the standards set by the August 2002 ruling. Prion remained incarcerated in Utah for an unrelated crime. (Tucson Citizen, March 15, 2003).
107. Wesley Quick Alabama Convicted: 1997, Acquitted: 2003
An Alabama jury acquitted death row inmate Wesley Quick of the 1995 double murder for which he was sentenced to death in 1997. The verdict marked the end of the third trial for Quick who was charged with shooting of John Hughes and Nathan King, on October 26, 1995. Quick’s first trial ended in a mistrial in May 1997 due to allegations of juror misconduct. During his second trial, Quick was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death row. On appeal, Quick raised the issue that his defense counsel was improperly denied access to a free transcript of the previous trial due to his indigent status. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals overturned that verdict in 2001, stating that the judge in Quick's second trial was indeed wrong to deny Quick a free copy of the transcript from the previous mistrial in light of his indigent status (Quick v. State, 825 So. 2d 246 (2001)).
Quick was accused of shooting the two men in the presence of a female acquaintance, and then picking up his friend, Jason Beninati. According to Beninati, Quick drove to the scene of the crime and showed him the bodies of his victims. Beninati testified against Quick at the 1997 trial. However, at the most recent trial, Quick testified that it was actually Beninati who was responsible for the murders, and the one who had disposed of the murder weapon. Thomas Mesereau, a member of Quick’s defense team, said Quick should have never been on Death Row and that justice was served with his acquittal because “the truth finally came out.” (Birmingham News, April 22, 2003).
108. John Thompson Louisiana Conviction: 1985, Acquitted: 2003
John Thompson was sentenced to death in 1985 following his conviction for a New Orleans murder. Thompson, who has maintained his innocence since his arrest, was released from prison on May 9, 2003, less than 24 hours after a jury acquitted him at his retrial. (Times-Picayune, May 9, 2003). In 1999, just five weeks before his scheduled execution, Thompson's attorney discovered crucial blood analysis evidence that undermined information used to influence the jury's decision to send Thompson to death row. The blood evidence, which had been improperly withheld by the State, cleared Thompson of a robbery conviction. It was that conviction that kept Thompson from testifying on his own behalf at the murder trial. In 2001, trial judge Patrick Quinlan vacated Thompson's capital sentence, stating that the erroneous robbery conviction had likely influenced the jury's decision to send Thompson to death row. Thompson remained in jail under a sentence of life without parole. (State v. Thompson, 825 So. 2d 552, 557 (La. 2002)). In a later appeal to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal of Louisiana, the court ruled that Thompson was "denied his right to testify in his own behalf based upon the improper actions of the State in the other case." (Id.) The court held that it was "the State's intentional hiding of exculpatory evidence in the armed robbery case that led to [Thompson's] improper conviction in that case and his subsequent decision not to testify in the instant case because of the improper conviction." (Id.) The court reversed Thompson's conviction and sentence, ordering a new trial.The retrial featured never-before heard testimony by Thompson, professing his innocence. In addition, jurors heard testimony from an eye-witness who insisted that it was not John Thompson whom she saw kill the victim. They also heard testimony that another man, Kevin Freeman, was the actual killer. Freeman was originally charged with the murder, but arranged a plea agreement with prosecutors and implicated Thompson. Although Freeman died prior to Thompson's recent trial, jurors were allowed to hear his earlier statements about the case, which were followed by questions that the defense would have asked on cross-examination. The trial concluded after jurors took less than an hour to acquit Thompson. (Times-Picayune, May 9, 2003). Read DPIC's Press Release.
109. Timothy Howard Ohio Convicted: 1976, Charges Dismissed: 2003
Timothy Howard was released from prison on April 23, 2003 when Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael H. Watson overturned his conviction citing evidence not disclosed or available during the 1977 trial. The new evidence was gathered through Freedom of Information requests filed by Howard. Howard was able to uncover new fingerprint evidence and conflicting witness statements made to the FBI that were not made available to defense attorneys during the his trial in 1977. Howard Spent 26 years behind bars, a portion of which time he spent on Ohio’s death row before the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional in the state.
Howard’s attorney James D. Owen said that the long legal fight ended abruptly and with little fanfare when Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, “in the interest of justice,” agreed to dismiss all charges against Howard and his codefendant, Gary Lamar James (The Columbus Dispatch, July 18, 2003). Howard was awarded $2.5 million in July of 2006 as compensation for his wrongful conviction, the largest sum ever paid to a wrongly convicted defendant in Ohio.
(Associated Press, March, 19, 2007).
110. Gary Lamar James Ohio Convicted: 1976, Charges Dismissed: 2003
Timothy Howard and Gary James were arrested in December, 1976 for a Columbus, Ohio bank robbery in which one of the bank guards was murdered. Both men maintained their innocence throughout the trial. In 1978, Ohio's death penalty was held to be unconstitutional and all death row inmates were re-sentenced. Howard and James were given life sentences. With funding from Centurion Ministries of New Jersey, Howard and James were subsequently able to uncover new evidence not made available to their defense attorneys at the time of their trial, including conflicting witness statements and fingerprints. James agreed to and passed a state-administered polygraph test, prompting Franklin County prosecutor Ron O'Brien to dismiss all charges "in the interest of justice." Howard was freed earlier on April 23 when Franklin County Common Pleas judge Michael Watson overturned his conviction, citing evidence not disclosed or available at trial. The state dropped its appeal of the judge's ruling, thereby clearing him of the same charges. While O'Brien said that releasing the two men was an admission of a 26-year-old unsolved murder and robbery, "[w]e don't want anybody in prison serving time for something they didn't do." (Columbus Dispatch, July 16, 18, and 21, 2003)
111. Joseph Amrine Missouri Conviction: 1986, Charges Dismissed: 2003
Joseph Amrine, 46, was released from jail in June 2003 after the Missouri Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, overturned his conviction and death sentence. Amrine was sentenced to death for the murder of a fellow prison inmate, Gary Barber, and spent seventeen years of his life on death Missouri’s death row.
Amrine has maintained his innocence since the alleged incident, and investigators were never able to find any physical evidence linking Amrine to the crime. Amrine was convicted mainly because of the testimony of fellow inmates, three of whom later recanted their testimony, admitting that they lied in exchange for protection. Six other prisoners testified that Amrine had been playing cards elsewhere in the prison when Barber was fatally stabbed. The Missouri Supreme Court originally ordered Amrine released in April of 2003, citing the alarming fact that there was not credible evidence to uphold the conviction or the death sentence (Amrine v. Roper, Mo. Sup. Ct. No. SC84656, April 29, 2003). Amrine’s released was postponed, however, when Prosecutor Bill Tracket filed amended murder charges against Amrine in order to conduct DNA tests on blood stains found on the pants Amrine wore the day of Barber’s death. DNA tests were inconclusive and on July 28, 2003, prosecutor Bill Tackett announced that he would not seek a new trial of Amrine and that he would be released. (Associated Press, July 28, 2003).
Arthur Benson, one of Amrine’s lawyers, said that he is in the intial stages of planning a civil case seeking compensation for the years Amrine spent behind bars for the prison killing. Sean O’Brien, another of Amrine’s attorneys, expressed his relief and disappointment, “It’s been a long time coming and we worked harder than we should have had to exonerate somebody” (The Associated Press, July 28, 2003).
Click Here for DPIC's Coverage of State of Missouri v. Joseph Amrine
Read DPIC's Press Release.
Read "A Broken System: Joseph Amrine" by The Justice Project
Read "Facing Execution on Tainted Testimony" by Amnesty International
112. Nicholas Yarris Pennsylvania Conviction: 1982, Charges Dismissed: 2003
In 1981, Nicholas Yarris was in jail on a minor charge when he learned of the murder of 32-year-old Linda Mae Craig in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Yarris believed that he would be freed if he could tell investigators he knew the killer's identity. Yarris gave investigators a wrong name, believing he could blame the murder on a dead associate. Police leaked to other inmates that Yarris was a snitch, and Yarris endured days of regular beatings and torture. In an effort to save himself, Yarris asked what would happen if he had participated in the crime, but was not the murderer. The beatings stopped, and Yarris was charged with capital murder. A fellow inmate made a deal with the DA and began exchanging false information about Yarris in exchange for conjugal visits and reduced sentencing with the DA. This inmate became one of the few witnesses to testify against Yarris at trial. The only physical evidence prosecutors offered was semen that had been tested only for blood type. During the trial in June of 1982, the prosecution refused to hand over some 20 pages of documents which would later be revealed to include other physical evidence and conflicting witness accounts. Yarris was found guilty, and sent to death row. On appeal, a federal judge approved a motion by prosecutors to have evidence from the case tested in a lab in Alabama that was later revealed to have had no experience in DNA testing. This lab found no conclusive results to exclude Yarris or include anyone else. A May 1994 motion for a new trial was denied. The DNA evidence was finally independently tested in 2000 by arrangement with the Pennsylvania Federal Defender Office that now represents Yarris, and the results of 3 tests excluded Yarris based on evidence from the crime scene. A Philadelphia Common Pleas judge vacated his conviction and ordered a new trial (Pennsylvania v. Yarris, No 690-OF1982, Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County, September 3, 2003 [order vacating conviction]). According to Delaware County Assistant DA Joseph Brielmann, the DA's office reviewed all available evidence, and "they have not uncovered enough information to proceed against Mr. Yarris. ... In fairness to Mr. Yarris, we requested that the prosecution be dismissed." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 10, 2003; Pennsylvania v. Yarris, No 690-OF1982, Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County, December 9, 2003 [order of Nolle Prosequi]). District Attorney Michael Green said that he might be willing to offer an apology "in a private way." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 10, 2003). Yarris remains in custody, however, serving a sentence for the crimes committed during a 1985 escape in Florida. Florida and Pennsylvania officials are working to determine how much longer, if at all, Yarris will remain behind bars. (Philadelphia Inquirer and Los Angeles times, December 10, 2003)
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