Home : Death Penalty : Innocence

The administration of the death penalty is fraught with error and results in the conviction and execution of the innocent. To date, 131 death-row inmates have been exonerated in the modern death penalty era. Nathson Fields of Illinois became the 131st person exonerated from death row after he was acquitted in a retrial on April 8, 2009. The most recent North Carolina exoneree was ACLU Capital Punishment Project client Levon "Bo" Jones, on May 2, 2008. Strong evidence has also emerged that seven men have been executed despite their innocence.

Supreme Court Considers Whether Criminal Defendants Have Right to Access DNA Evidence
The United States Supreme Court is considering whether criminal defendants have a post-conviction constitutional right to access DNA evidence that can prove their innocence in the case of District Attorney’s Office for the Third Judicial District, et. al v. Osborne. Most states allow prisoners access to DNA evidence through state law, but currently, four states — Alabama, Alaska, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma — provide no mechanism for prisoners to seek DNA testing that could prove their innocence in post-conviction proceedings. Alabama recently executed Danny Bradley, a man who for years sought DNA testing to prove he did not commit the murder, as DNA testing was not available at the time of his 1983 trial.
Transcript of oral argument (PDF) >>

National Academy of Sciences Recommends Overhaul of Forensic Science System
A report released recently from the National Academy of Sciences reveals severe flaws in forensic science systems across the country and called for substantial reform and research. The report criticizes forensic techniques handled by poorly-trained technicians including fingerprinting, firearms identification, and the analysis of bite marks, blood spatter, hair and handwriting. Many technicians have a tendency to over-emphasize the accuracy of their findings in court. The NAS report recommended the creation of a national institute to promulgate universal forensic standards and to provide more oversight on crime laboratories. Many death row inmates have been exonerated after being convicted on the basis of faulty forensic science.
Executive summary of report (PDF) >>

Innocent North Carolina Man Exonerated After 14 Years On Death Row
On May 2, 2008, the District Attorney of North Carolina's Duplin County dropped all charges against Levon "Bo" Jones, who has spent the last 14 years of his life on the state's death row after being wrongfully convicted for the 1987 murder of Leamon Grady. A federal judge ordered Jones off death row in 2006 and overturned his conviction, declaring that Jones' initial defense attorneys missed critical evidence pointing to his innocence. Learn More >>

Innocent North Carolina Man Exonerated After 14 Years On Death Row (05/02/2008)
KENANSVILLE, NC – An innocent man who spent 14 years on North Carolina's death row after being wrongfully convicted for a 1987 murder will be released from prison today. Jones has been represented by American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project lawyers Cassandra Stubbs and Brian Stull, along with North Carolina attorney Ernest "Buddy" Connor.

ACLU and Texas Innocence Network Appeal Innocent Man's Death Sentence Based On Unfair Trial (10/24/2007)
AUSTIN, TX -- At a hearing today before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Texas Innocence Network (TIN) argued that death row inmate Max Soffar was unfairly prevented from proving his innocence at his second trial in 2006. The groups hope to overturn Soffar's conviction in the capital murder case of four victims shot during an armed robbery in a Houston bowling alley in 1980. In 1981, Soffar was convicted and sentenced to death, but a federal court overturned his conviction in 2004 because his trial lawyers failed to argue that Soffar's confession contradicted the account of the sole surviving witness and other reliable evidence in the case. The state of Texas retried Soffar last year and he was again convicted and sentenced to death.

High Court Halts Execution of Texas Death Row Prisoner, Saying Prosecutors Violated Ethical Duties (02/24/2004)
WASHINGTON - The United States Supreme Court today halted the scheduled execution of death row prisoner Delma Banks, Jr., saying that Banks was denied a fair trial 20 years ago when prosecutors withheld crucial exculpatory evidence from the defense.

Citing "Undue Risk" of Executing Innocents, Court Declares Federal Death Penalty Unconstitutional (07/01/2002)
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today applauds U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff for declaring that the federal death penalty is unconstitutional because it creates ""an undue risk of executing innocent people.""

ACLU Urges Legislation to Prevent Wrongful Conviction of Innocents (06/18/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged committees in both the House and Senate to support and quickly pass legislation designed to reduce the risk of innocent persons being wrongfully convicted or sentenced to death in America.

The average number of executions per exoneration (02/06/2004)
A look at the proportional number of exonerations to executions

Mentally Retarded Death Row Exonerations (12/09/2003)

A Question of Innocence (12/09/2003)

DNA Testing and the Death Penalty (06/26/2002)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Motion to Dismiss (04/14/2008)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Affidavit/Recantation of Lovely Lorden (12/05/2007)

Soffar v. State of Texas: Brief (05/14/2007)

Jones v. Polk - Order (09/26/2006)

ACLU Letter to the House Judiciary Committee Expressing Concerns about HR 3214, the Advancing Justice through DNA Technology Act of 2003 (10/08/2003)

LCCR Letter to the Senate on the Innocence Protection Act of 2001 (06/21/2002)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Statement of Cassandra Stubbs, Staff Attorney, ACLU Capital Punishment Project (05/05/2008)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Statement of Attorney Ernest Conner (05/05/2008)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Statement of Brian Stull, Staff Attorney, ACLU Capital Punishment Project (05/05/2008)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Statement of Levon "Bo" Jones (04/14/2008)

Soffar v. State of Texas - Overview (05/22/2007)
Max Soffar has been on Texas's death row for more than twenty-five years for a crime he did not commit.The ACLU Capital Punishment Project and the Texas Innocence Network represent Mr. Soffar on direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

State of North Carolina v. Jones (04/14/2008)
Innocent North Carolina Man Exonerated After 14 Years On Death Row

Soffar v. State of Texas (04/30/2007)
Texas Sentences to Death an Innocent Man, the ACLU Appeals