In 1976 Randall Dale Adams became a terrible victim of circumstance. After running out of gas and hitching a ride home with 16-year-old David Harris, Adams was convicted of murdering police officer Robert Wood. The officer pulled the teenager over after he dropped Adams off at home. The teen shot the officer, but told authorities he still had Adams in the car, and that Adams fired the gun. Adams was found guilty, sentenced to death and told he had 30 days to live before his execution. Adams got his death sentence revoked after evidence emerged that the jury was biased. He was sentenced to life in prison and was finally released in 1989, based on new evidence.
Source: Texasmonthly.com
In 1992, Mississippi resident Brewer was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of the 3-year-old daughter of his girlfriend at the time. Prosecutors used analysis of bite marks on the child to convict Brewer. Nine years later, in 2001, analysts found that the semen found on the girl did not match Brewer’s DNA but did match another suspect, Justin Johnson. In spite of this evidence, Brewer was not granted a new trial for over another five years. In 2008 he was finally exonerated.
Source: Innocentproject.org
Philadelphia high school principal Jay C. Smith was convicted of murdering a schoolteacher and her two children in 1979. There was another suspect — William S. Bradfield — but Bradfield had an alibi. That, combined with the fact that Smith had just been found guilty of an armed robbery of a Sears, was enough for prosecutors to convict Smith. Smith spent six years on death row before his conviction was overturned on the grounds that the testimony from Bradfield’s alibi was not solid enough. Smith attempted to sue state police after he was released, but did not succeed.
Source: NyTimes.com
In the early ’80s Oklahoma City resident Robert Miller was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two elderly women. Reports said Miller denied having anything to do with the crime dozens of times. Then under questionable circumstances, he pleaded guilty. Miller spent almost a decade in prison before forensics proved he was not the culprit, and three years later further evidence got Miller a new trial. He was released in 1998.
Source: Innocenceproject.org
In 1982, Porter was arrested for the killings of two Chicago teenagers. Several witnesses, including some who had been robbed by Porter, implicated him in the crime. Porter was sentenced to death. Porter filed for several appeals during the following years, which got his death sentence pushed back several times. In 1998, just 48 hours before his execution, Porter’s sentence was pushed back again due to evidence he may have been moderately retarded and incapable of understanding his punishment. In 1999, the wife of the real killer, Alstory Simon, came forward and said she saw her husban kill the teens. Four days later, Simon confessed to the killings and two days after that Porter was released from death row, where he had spent 17 years.
Source: Capitalpunishmentincontext.org
Brandley was working as a janitor at a Texas high school in the ’80s when he was charged with raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl. Reports say a white employee of the school was also a suspect, but it was racism that landed Brandley in the courtroom, and in prison for six years, sentenced to death. Eventually, a new witness plus fundraising from civil rights activists helped Brandley get exonerated in 1990.
Source: TexasMonthly.com
In 1989, new mother Butler found that her newborn son had stopped breathing. After several attempts to resuscitate the baby, Butler brought him to the hospital. She was charged with child abuse and sentenced to death. Butler would spend almost three years on death row before prosecutors reversed her conviction, and several more years in prison before she was exonerated.
Source: Axisoflogic.com
While in prison in 1997 for burglary, Toney’s inmate Charles Ferris told authorities that Toney had confessed to a bombing in Texas that had killed three people. Toney was subsequently sentenced to death, and his inmate was released as reward for the information. Toney would spend 10 years on death row before Ferris confessed that he’d made the entire story up to get out of jail sooner. The District Attorney’s Office withheld evidence that could have proven Toney’s innocence. In 2009, Toney’s sentence was overturned and he was released.
Source: Murderpedia.org
In 1983, Louisiana resident Glenn Ford was sentenced to death for shooting a watchmaker. Brothers Jake and Henry Robinson were also suspects, but the girlfriend of one of the brothers testified that Ford was the killer. In 2013, an anonymous informant told prosecutors that Jake had admitted to killing the watchmaker. In 2014, Ford was released from prison, making him the longest-serving death row inmate in the state. He spent most of those 30 years in solitary confinement.
Ford learned he had lung cancer shortly after his release from Angola on March 11, 2014. He died in New Orleans on June 29, 2015, the TimesPicayune reported. He was 65.
In 1989, Burrows was sentenced to death for killing an Illinois farmer, William Dulin. Burrows spent five years on death row before the real killer, Gayle Potter, confessed to the murder. Potter had been the witness in Burrows’ trial whose “testimony” originally got him convicted.
Source: Chicagotribune.com
Bloodsworth was convicted in 1985 of raping and killing a nine-year-old girl in Rosedale, Maryland. Bloodsworth spent eight years in prison and two years on death row before becoming the first American to be exonerated due to DNA evidence. It wouldn’t be until nearly a decade after Bloodsworth’s release that the real killer would be found.
Source: Innocenceproject.org
After a young man was murdered in Florida and his young female companion raped, the rape victim identified Tibbs as the killer. Tibbs did not match the character description—he was over half a foot taller than the described criminal—and he was tried by an all white jury, both of which facts brought much media attention to his case. Celebrities rallied and raised funds so Tibbs could afford good legal representation. It was 1974 when Tibbs was sentenced to death and it would by 1982 before the court overturned his conviction.
Source: Witnesstoinnocence.org
Melendez-Colon spent over 17 years on Death Row for a crime he didn’t commit. Melendez-Colon was convicted largely based on testimonies but later, evidence arose discounting many of these testimonies, and new witnesses confessed to knowing who the real murderer was. Melendez-Colon is now a human rights activist and public speaker.
Source: Witnesstoinnocence.org
Thibodeaux spent 15 years on Death Row for a murder he did not commit. Thibodeaux was put through a 14-hour interrogation regarding the rape and murder of his 14-year-old step cousin, and was forced to confess. Testimonies by witnesses who later confessed to admitting false information landed the man in prison. Eventually DNA evidence showed that not only had Thibodeaux not committed the crime but also part of it had not even occurred.
Source: Innocenceproject.org
In 1996, at the age of 16, Cousin became one of the youngest people sent to Death Row. Cousin was convicted of robbing and murdering a young man in New Orleans. It was later revealed that the detective on the case had lied, saying two witnesses had identified Cousin as the killer who had not done so, so that he could get the arrest warrant.
Source: Umich.edu
Gell spent four years on Death Row in North Carolina after being convicted of a murder. Two teenage girls identified Gell as the killer, saying they saw him shoot the victim in his home. It was later discovered that the investigators had covered up proof that Gell was innocent. Today Gell is an anti-death penalty activist.
Source: Umich.edu
After a 10-year-old girl from Naperville, Illinois was found raped and killed, a Rolando Cruz stepped forward, providing a false story to get the $10,000 reward. His story implicated Alejandro Hernandez, who was sentenced to death. It was later revealed that Cruz’ statement was false and over a decade after his sentence, Hernandez had his charges dropped.
Source: Umich.edu
