Overturned convictions in the United States
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This is a list of overturned convictions in the United States.
Contents |
[edit] Alabama
Bill Wilson was convicted of the 1912 murder of his wife and child. He was exonerated in 1918 when they were both found living in Indiana.
The Choctaw Three were convicted of the 1999 murder of a non-existent baby.
The Scottsboro Boys were nine black juveniles convicted of an alleged 1931 rape of a white girl. Some were later exonerated.
Butler and Yelder were convicted of the alleged 1928 murder of Butler's niece. They were exonerated in the same year when the niece was found living less than 20 miles away.
[edit] Arizona
Ray Krone was sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of a bar manager. Bite marks found on the victim were said to match Krone's teeth. DNA tests exonerated Krone in 2001.
[edit] Arkansas
Charles Hudspeth was convicted of the 1887 murder of his lover's missing husband. Hudspeth was hanged in 1892, but the husband was found alive, living in Kansas in 1893.
[edit] California
Huey Newton was convicted of the 1967 manslaughter of an Oakland Patrolman. His conviction was overturned in 1970.
Geronimo Pratt, a Black Panther leader, was convicted in 1972 of the 1968 murder of a white school teacher. He was exonerated in 1997.
Rivera and Walpole were convicted in 1973 of the 1965 murder of their three-year-old daughter. Shortly after their convictions, their daughter was located alive.
[edit] Florida
Joseph Shea was convicted of the 1959 murder of an airline clerk. He was retried and acquitted in 1966.
James Richardson was convicted of the 1967 poisoning murder of seven of his children. He was exonerated in 1989.
Wilbert Lee and Freddie Pitts were sentenced to death for the 1963 robbery and murder of two Port St. Joe gas station attendants. They were released and pardoned in 1975.
The Quincy Five were accused of murdering a sheriff's deputy. Two were convicted before evidence emerged that exonerated all five.
[edit] Georgia
Douglas Echols was convicted of a 1986 kidnapping, rape, and robbery. DNA tests exonerated him in 2004.
The Marietta Seven were convicted of the 1971 murder of two physicians in Marietta. The seven were exonerated in 1975.
Clarence Harrison was convicted of the 1986 kidnapping, robbery, and rape of a 25-year-old woman in Decatur. DNA tests exonerated him in 2004.
Marcus Dixon was convicted in 2003 of the rape of Kristie Brown, a 15-year-old schoolgirl. These charges were later overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court and dropped to statutory rape.
Leo Frank was convicted of the 1913 murder of a 13-year-old female employee in Atlanta. He was lynched in 1915, and posthumously pardoned in 1986.
[edit] Illinois
Majczek and Marcinkiewicz were convicted of the 1932 murder of a Chicago police officer. They were exonerated in 1945 and 1950.
Gary Dotson was convicted of a 1977 rape after he was identified by the victim. The victim recanted in 1985 and DNA tests cleared him in 1989.
The Ford Heights Four were convicted of the 1978 murder of an engaged couple. DNA tests exonerated them in 1996.
Anthony Porter was sentenced to death for the 1982 murder of an engaged couple. He was exonerated in 1989.
David Dowaliby was convicted of the 1988 murder of his stepdaughter. His conviction was reversed in 1991 on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
Julie Rea was convicted of the 1997 murder of her 10-year-old son. She was acquitted on retrial in 2006.
[edit] Indiana
Richard Alexander was convicted of committing two 1996 rapes. He was exonerated of the crimes in 2001.
[edit] Kentucky
Condy Dabney was convicted of the 1924 murder of a 14-year-old girl. A year after his conviction the girl was found living 85 miles away.
[edit] Louisiana
Shareef Cousin was sentenced to death for a 1995 murder. He was released in 1998.
Mychal Bell was sentenced to 22 years for assault. Overturned September 14 2007
[edit] Maryland
Michael Austin was convicted of the 1974 murder of a grocery store security guard. He was exonerated in 2001.
Kirk Bloodsworth was convicted of the 1985 rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl. DNA tests exonerated him in 1993.
[edit] Massachusetts
Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted of a 1920 double homicide and robbery. They were executed in 1927. Governor Dukakis posthumously pardoned the pair in 1977.
Lawyer Johnson was sentenced to death for a 1971 Roxbury murder. He was exonerated in 1982.
[edit] Michigan
Ken Wyniemko was convicted of a 1984 rape and robbery of a 28-year-old woman. DNA tests exonerated him in 2003.
[edit] Nebraska
William Jackson Marion was convicted of murdering a man who disappeared in 1872. Marion was hanged in 1887, but the man turned up alive in 1891.
[edit] New Jersey
Bill MacFarland was convicted of the 1911 arsenic murder of his wife. He was acquitted on retrial.
The Trenton Six were convicted of the 1948 murder of a Trenton shopkeeper. All six were exonerated by 1952.
Rubin Carter, a middleweight boxer who was convicted twice of a 1966 triple murder, conviction overturned in 1985 and indictments withdrawn in 1987.
[edit] New York
The Central Park Five were five Harlem teens convicted of the 1989 assault and rape of a jogger in New York's Central Park. The convictions were set aside in 2002.
Jeffrey Mark Deskovic was convicted of the 1989 of rape and murder of a high school classmate. He was exonerated in 2006 when the DNA from the crime was matched to another person.
[edit] North Carolina
Darryl Hunt was convicted of the 1984 rape and murder of a newspaper reporter. He was exonerated in 2004.
[edit] Ohio
Dr. Sam Sheppard was convicted of the 1955 murder of his wife. He was acquitted on retrial in 1966.
[edit] Oklahoma
Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz were convicted in 1988 of the 1982 rape and murder of an Ada barmaid. Both were exonerated in 1999.
[edit] Oregon
Santiago Ventura Morales was convicted in 1986 of murdering a farm worker. He was exonerated in 1990.
[edit] Pennsylvania
Smith and Bradfield were convicted of the 1979 murder of a schoolteacher and her two children. Smith’s conviction was overturned in 1992.
Nicholas Yarris was sentenced to death for a 1981 rape and murder. DNA tests exonerated him in 2004.
Fred Thomas was convicted of the 1993 murder of a Federal Express truck driver. The conviction was overturned in 2002.
[edit] Texas
Anthony Graves was convicted of the 1992 mass murder of six people. His conviction was overturned in 2006, and he faces a possible retrial.
Randall Dale Adams was sentenced to death for of the 1976 murder of a police officer. He was exonerated in 1989.
Clarence Brandley was sentenced to death for the 1980 rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl. He was exonerated in 1990.
Kerry Max Cook was sentenced to death for the 1977 murder of a 21-year-old secretary. He was freed in 1997.
Danziger and Ochoa were convicted of a 1988 rape and murder. DNA tests exonerated the pair in 2001.
[edit] Vermont
The Boorn Brothers were convicted in 1819 of the alleged 1812 murder of their brother-in-law. They were released in 1820 when the brother-in-law was found living in New Jersey.
[edit] Virginia
Earl Washington Jr. was sentenced to death for a 1982 rape and murder. He was pardoned in 2000.
Ernest Lyons was convicted of the 1908 murder of a missing church pastor. Three years later, the pastor was found living in North Carolina.
[edit] Wisconsin
Lawrencia Bembenek was convicted of the 1981 murder of her husband's ex-wife. She was exonerated in 1992.
