PA Man Cleared by DNA Evidence--2003 Is Record-Tying Year for Exonerations

On December 9, 2003, Nicholas James Yarris of Pennsylvania became the 10th person to be exonerated from death row in 2003, equalling the most exonerations in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated. He is the nation's 112th death row exoneree. Yarris's conviction was initially overturned when three DNA tests of the forensic trial evidence excluded him. His exoneration became final when Delaware County prosecutors announced that they were dropping all charges against him. In July, attorneys for Yarris announced that DNA tests excluded him from the rape and murder for which he was convicted. Yarris, 41, has spent 21 years on Pennsylvania's death row, and has always maintained his innocence. Yarris is Pennsylvania's fifth death row exoneree since 1986, and he is the first person in the state to be freed based on DNA evidence. The state has executed three people since it reenacted the death penalty in 1974. The 10 death row exonerations in the U.S. in 2003 equals the highest number since 1973, when states began enacting new death penalty laws. Ten inmates were also freed in 1987. Of the 112 exonerations, 13 have been as a result of DNA evidence. Read DPIC's Press Release. See Innocence.