Exonerees

The DPIC is a non-profit organization whose mission is to research and educate about the death penalty in the United States. It does not take a position on the morality or rightness of the death penalty per se, although a large number of its reports also deal with the problems associated with this penalty and are therefore rather critical of its application.

The DPIC applies very strict and objective standards as to which cases are included in the list in the first place. Basically, the list results from the decisions on the part of the courts and public prosecutors. The following criteria exist for inclusion on the list:

A defendant was found guilty, sentenced to death, and subsequently.

1.) either his conviction was overturned AND
(a) he was acquitted on retrial; or
b) all charges were dropped

2.) he was fully pardoned by the Governor based on newly presented evidence of innocence.

The list includes cases of individuals set free in 1973 or later, the year states began imposing death sentences again after the U.S. Supreme Court had previously declared the death penalty unconstitutional as a penalty.

On average, 3.03 people were released from death row per year in the United States from 1973-1999, and an average of 4.29 people were released from death row from 2000-2020.

On average, “exonerees” had 9.8 years between their death sentence and their release from prison. In only 27 cases did DNA play a decisive role in proving innocence.