List of exonerated death row inmates

This list contains names of people who were found guilty of capital crimes and placed on death row but later had their convictions overturned. Many of these exonerees' sentences were overturned by acquittal or pardon, but some of those listed were exonerated posthumously.^[1] The state listed is that in which the conviction occurred, the year is that of release and the case is that which overturned the conviction.

This list does not include:

1. Posthumous pardons for individuals executed before 1950.
2. Inmates who were given life sentences when their country, province or state abolished the death penalty.
3. People who were threatened with death and never jailed.
4. People who were jailed by extralegal groups or courts, for example, as often occurs in cases of sentences of stoning.

This list does include:

1. Former death row inmates who were exonerated after initially being conditionally pardoned, having their sentences commuted, or having their cases dismissed.
2. Death row inmates who were legally exonerated, but not proven factually innocent.
3. Death row inmates who remain in prison or even on death row for other capital or non-capital convictions.

Canada

Steven Truscott was convicted of a schoolmate's murder in 1959 and sentenced at age 14 to death by hanging. His sentence was commuted to life in prison four months later, and he was paroled in 1969. His conviction was overturned in 2007 for "miscarriage of justice." A court found that while it could not declare Truscott factually innocent, there was insufficient evidence to declare him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In July 2008, the Ontario government announced it would pay Truscott $6.5 million in compensation for his ordeal.^[2]

India

Six men Ankush Maruti Shinde, Rajya Appa Shinde, Ambadas Laxman Shinde, Raju Mhasu Shinde, Bapu Appa Shinde and Suresh Shinde were convicted and sentenced to death penalty in 2009 on charges of rape and murder. On 6 March 2019, the Supreme Court of India acquitted all the six death-row convicts and proclaimed them innocent.^[3][4]

In March 2023, the Supreme Court of India freed Niranaram Chetanram Chaudhary after he spent 28 years, six months and 23 days in custody, and was freed from Nagpur jail. At the time of conviction, Chaudhary was 12 years and six months. As per Indian laws, death sentence or any sentence more than three years cannot be awarded to a juvenile.^[5]

Ireland

In 2015, the President of Ireland granted a posthumous pardon to Harry Gleeson, who had been executed for the murder of Moll McCarthy in 1940, on the grounds that he had been wrongfully convicted.^[6]

Israel

In 1948, IDF major Meir Tobianski was tried by a drumhead court-martial for treason after being accused of spying for Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. On June 30, 1948, He was found guilty of passing information on targets for Jordanian artillery and sentenced to death. Tobianski was not allowed to appeal the verdict and was executed by firing squad minutes after sentencing on the orders of Isser Be'eri, the first director of the IDF's intelligence branch. On July 1 1949, Tobianski was posthumously acquitted and had his rank reinstated by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.^[7]

In November 1949, Isser Be'eri, who was forced to resign was tried and found guilty of manslaughter by the Tel Aviv District Court for his role in Tobianski's wrongful execution. The court found that since there was a ceasefire in effect at the time, any information allegedly passed by Tobianski could not have helped Jordanian artillery.^[8] Be'eri received a symbolic punishment of one day of prison, "from sunrise to sunset, 30 days after sentencing", before being pardoned by the president, Chaim Weizmann.^[9]

Japan

Year	Details of Exoneration
1983	Sakae Menda was forced to confess to the murders of a Buddhist priest and his wife in 1948 and was convicted on two counts of murder and robbery in 1949. In a 1983 retrial, he was found not guilty of all charges. He died in 2020.[10][11]
1989	Masao Akahori was convicted in 1954 at the age of 24 of raping and murdering a schoolgirl. In 1989, he became the fourth death row inmate in Japan to be released.[12][13][10]
2024	Iwao Hakamada was accused of stabbing a family of four to death and covering it up with a house fire in 1966. He was acquitted in a retrial by the Shizuoka District Court.[14]

Taiwan

Year	Details of Exoneration
2012	Su Chien-ho (蘇建和), Liu Bing-lang (劉秉郎) and Chuang Lin-hsun (莊林勳) were sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of Wu Ming-han and his wife Yeh Ying-lan in Xizhi District, Taipei County, Taiwan. They were acquitted in 2012.[15]
2016	Cheng Hsing-tse (鄭性澤) was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of a police officer in Fengyuan, Taichung, Taiwan. He was acquitted in May 2016.[16]

United Kingdom

Year	Details of Exoneration
1966	Timothy Evans, convicted of the murder of his infant daughter Geraldine in 1950, was hanged on March 9, 1950, and posthumously pardoned in 1966.[17][18][19]
1998	Mahmood Hussein Mattan was found guilty of slashing a shop owners throat at the Cardiff Docks in 1952. He convicted and hanged in 1952 but his conviction was quashed in 1998.[20]
	Derek Bentley was hanged for the murder of a policeman during an attempted burglary. He was convicted in 1952, executed in 1953, later pardoned in 1993, and the conviction quashed in 1998.[21]
2003	George Kelly, who was executed in 1950 for the Cameo Cinema murder case, had his conviction quashed in 2003.[22]

United States

As of December 5, 2025, the Innocence Database maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center shows 201 exonerations of prisoners who had been sentenced to death in the United States since 1973.^[23]

1820s

Year	State	Details of Exoneration
1820	Vermont	Brothers Jesse and Stephen Boorn, were convicted in 1819 for the disappearance and murder of their brother-in-law. They were both pardoned in 1820 when the brother-in-law was found alive, working on a farm in New Jersey.[24][25]

1850s

Year	State	Details of Exoneration
1851	California	Thomas Berdue was misidentified as a man who murdered the local sheriff and robbed a store owner in California. He was convicted in 1851 and to be hanged but the real murderer was caught during an attempted burglary where he bore a striking resemblance to Berdue, exonerating him.[26]

1880s

Year	State	Details of Exoneration
1889	Arkansas	William Woods was convicted in 1888 for the shooting murder of a hiker he and his friend, Henry Miller, had met at Commodore Hollow on the Cherokee Nation reserve. After multiple plea's of innocence, it eventually caught the attention of President Harrison's Attorney General H. H. Miller who demanded a more thorough investigation. The secondary investigation brought to light that hiker the two met was actually alive for several weeks after the supposed murder took place and that the witnesses from the original trial were wrong. Upon Miller's request, President Harrison pardoned Woods in 1889. However, Henry Miller had his sentenced commuted to life in prison for unknown reasons.[27]

1890s

Year	State	Details of Exoneration
1895	Pennsylvania	Michael Sabol was convicted in 1891 for the beating death of an Irish man during a riot. The riot started when 200 Hungarian workers on strike stormed a factory where Irish strikebreakers were working, leading to the death of 16 men. Sabol was convicted on the sole, problematic testimony of a man of Irish decent. He was exonerated in 1895 when a man who bore a close resemblance to George Rusnak, another man convicted for the same murder, was identified as one of the real murderers. Sabol died of consumption two weeks later.[28]
1897	George Rusnak was convicted in 1891 for the beating death of an Irish man during a riot. The riot started when 200 Hungarian workers on strike stormed a factory where Irish strikebreakers were working, leading to the death of 16 men. Rusnak was convicted on the sole, problematic testimony of a man of Irish decent. After having his sentenced commuted to life in prison he was pardoned in 1897 when a man who bore a close resemblance to Rusnak was identified as one of the real murderers.[29]
1898	Mississippi	Will Purvis was convicted in 1893 for the shooting murder of Will Buckley. Buckley had submitted evidence to a Grand Jury that his black farmhand had been beaten by a group of fellow Whitecaps. While on his way to the home of Purvis he was shot and killed where bloodhounds lead officers to 19-year-old Purvis, another Whitecap. All witnesses for his defense was thrown out leading to his conviction on the testimony of Buckley brother and their affiliation to the Whitecaps. During his execution he proclaimed his innocence and asked whoever did commit the crime to step forward, but nobody did. When he was hanged, the noose slipped. When the sheriff attempted to hang him again, the crowd of onlookers protested. He then escaped with the help of supporters and hid in the woods till he surrendered. The new governor then commuted his sentence to life in prison. Two years later, Buckley's brother recanted his testimony that convicted Purvis leading to a full pardon from the governor in 1889.[30]

1900s

Year	State	Details of Exoneration
1901	Illinois	Michael J. Synon was convicted in 1900 for the bludgeoning death of his wife. Despite over 20 witnesses that he was at a local saloon at the time of the murder, he was convicted based on testimony from neighbors that he abused his wife and their 10-year-old son saw them arguing the same morning. Due to the judge in during the trial making inappropriate remarks about Synon and not allowing the defense to show evidence about a boarder who lived at the home at the time, had disappeared right after the murder, a re-trial was ordered. During the new trial, new testimony from a witness described a man who was not Synon enter the home just before the murder leading to his acquittal.[31]
1902	Arkansas	Henry Miller was convicted in 1888 for the murder of a hiker he and his friend, William Woods, had met at Commodore Hollow on the Cherokee Nation reserve. After multiple plea's of innocence, it eventually caught the attention of President Harrison's Attorney General H. H. Miller who demanded a more thorough investigation. The secondary investigation brought to light that hiker the two met was actually alive for several weeks after the supposed murder took place and that the witnesses from the original trial were wrong. Despite Woods receiving a pardon in 1889, Henry Miller had his sentenced commuted to life in prison for unknown reasons Arkansas. After 10 years in prison, Miller reached out to Attorney General Philander Knox, where upon his request, President Roosevelt pardon him in 1902.[32]
1905	Pennsylvania	Samuel Greason was convicted in 1901 for the bludgeoning death of the husband of his lover, Kate Edwards. Greason, a black man, was having an affair with the wife of his co-worker, a white woman. She was pregnant at the time of the murder and was convicted to life in prison on testimony given by Greason that she wanted to kill her husband and often complained about him. After her trial, he was arrested on suspicion of being her accomplice due to her having a mixed race baby and the prosecution theorized that was the true motive for the murder. Edwards then testified at his trial that he was the one who actually killed her husband. He was sentenced to death but the execution date was delayed 10 times until the day before his final execution date when she recanted her testimony. He was re-tried and acquitted in 1905 and pardoned in 1914.[33]

1910s

Year	State	Details of Exoneration
1911	Tennessee	David Sherman and two others were convicted in 1907 for the murder of Elisha Hicks. Sherman and Beulah McGhee, both black men, were shooting craps at Bob Henderson's house when Hicks, a white man, was found found dead by the railroad tracks. The three were arrested under suspicion they robbed Hicks. A few days before there execution dates, McGhee confessed he alone murdered Hicks, leading to while Governor Malcolm Patterson ordered further investigation. McGhee was hanged in 1907, Sherman was pardoned in 1911, and Henderson died in prison in 1912.[34]
	Pennsylvania	Andrew Toth was convicted in absentia in 1891 for the beating death of an Irish man during a riot. The riot started when 200 Hungarian workers on strike stormed a factory where Irish strikebreakers were working, leading to the death of 16 men. Toth was convicted on the sole, problematic testimony of a man of Irish decent. After spending almost 19 years in prison, the real murder, Steve Toth, confessed to the murder when he believed he was dying of typhoid fever. He had fled the country immediately after the riot and his confession had reached Pennsylvania courts leading to Andrew's exoneration. Both men had lived in the same share house, had no resemblance, and were not related.[35]
	Massachusetts	Stearns Kendall Abbott was convicted in 1880 of the shooting murder of Maria Crue. Two witnesses placed a bearded transient nearby on the day of the murder with one claiming she saw the man speak with Crue. Abbot was identified as the transient afterwards. Unfortunately, the defense could not find any witnesses to back up the claim that Abbot was on a train bound for Boston at the time or that the main witness, Jennie Carr, was having an affair with the victims husband and birthed his child. He was convicted to hang, however, a witnesses only known as "a young factory girl from Lowell" claimed that Carr had acknowledged that she had falsely accused Abbott. A few weeks later, the girl's body was found in the Charles River. Multiple citizens groups would push for a pardon until one was granted in 1911 when Abbot was 71.[36]
1913	Florida	J.B. Brown was convicted in 1901 of the shooting death of Harry Wesson. On the day of the murder, the sheriff rounded up a few suspects and threw them in jail. One was the railyard watchman of where the body was found. That night, a jailer claimed to see Brown, a former brakeman on the railyard, talking to the watchman through the fence and tell him to keep his mouth shut. While Brown was held in prison, his cellmate, Alonzo Mitchell, claimed Brown confessed to him, reporting that Brown had admitted he and Jim “J.J.” Johnson had plotted to kill Wesson, and that Brown had shot Wesson with Johnson’s gun. Despite refuting most of the witnesses testimony, he was convicted and sentenced to hang. Due to a clerical error, his execution date was postponed and he was able to get his sentence commuted to life in prison. In 1902, the charges against Johnson were dismissed. Almost a decade later, Johnson admitted he committed the murder by himself and Brown was innocent. On the recommendation of the judge and prosecuting attorney, Brown was pardoned but in 1913 and in 1929, sought a pension for his time wrongfully convicted which was granted to him to the total of $2,492, to be paid in monthly installments of $25.[37]
1915	Tenessee	John McElwrath was convicted in 1903 for the murder of Will Wilson. Wilson and McElwrath, black work hands with the Illinois Central Railroad, were both riding freight trains to Mounds, Illinois for their paychecks. However, on the ride back, the train made a sudden stop due to finding Wilson's body on the tracks. McElwrath was found with a revolver that was suspected of being recently fired and arrested. Despite no evidence tying his gun to the actual murder, he was convicted and sentenced to hang. Days before his execution, prompted by letters and petitions from prominent businessmen and Dresden city officials, Governor Frazier commuted his sentence to life in prison. After 10 years, an unknown witness on his deathbed admitted that a friend of his murdered Wilson. Attorney Duke C. Bowers, with the assistance of Selden Maiden, the brother of the judge who had sentenced McElwrath to death, pushed for a pardon Governor Ben W. Hooper on his last day in office, pardoned McElwrath in 1915. For compensation for his wrongful conviction, the state gave him $.25 and a train ticket to Dresden, Tennessee.[38]
1917	Illinois	Herman Zajicek was convicted in 1907 for the arsenic murders of a family of five ages 10, 12, 18, and 20-year-old Mary. Police paid little, if any, attention to the 1905 deaths until December 3, 1906, when a Chicago American article suggested Zajicek, a 39-year-old Bohemian fortuneteller, was responsible. Zajicek, who had been performing "magical" services for the family, was suspected along with the matriarch, Rose Vrzal, who was the beneficiary of life insurance policies on the victims. Police questioned the surviving son, 15-year-old Jerry Vrzal, who, after being told that Zajicek had accused him, testified that he overheard Zajicek and his mother plotting the murders to collect insurance. Rose died of apparent arsenic suicide shortly after being taken into custody which prompted the exhumation of the family. Based largely on Jerry's testimony, Zajicek was convicted in 1907 for the murder of Mary Vrzal and sentenced to death, although he was suspected of the other deaths. Thanks to Father P.J. O'Callaghan, Zajick had his execution stayed and in 1908, Jerry Vrzal recanted his testimony, admitting the police pressured him to lie. New evidence also emerged suggesting the involvement of the married daughter, Emma Vrzal Niemann, who Zajicek had accused during his trial. Her father-in-law, Henry Niemann, had died in 1905 while Emma lived with him, and whose body was found to contain arsenic. In 1909, Governor Deneen commuted Zajicek's sentence to life imprisonment due to the false testimony. In 1917, Governor Dunne granted a full pardon based on his innocence. However, he died just four months after his release because his health had deteriorated in prison.[39]
1918	New York	Charles Stielow was convicted in 1915 for the shooting murder of 90-year-old Charles B. Phelps and his housekeeper. A week prior to the murders, Phelps had hired Steilow as a farm hand. He and another farm hand, Nelson Green, lived across the street in a tenant house. Steilow initially denied involvement, but later gave a confession to detectives, claiming Green was the shooter, after being pressured and admitting to earlier lies. Green also confessed but implicated Stielow as the shooter. A key piece of evidence at trial was a ballistics testimony of Dr. Albert Hamilton, a self-proclaimed expert who only had a high school education and a phony medical degree. He concluded Stielow’s .22-caliber revolver was the murder weapon without ever test firing it. Despite Stielow’s defense arguing the confession was coerced, he was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death, while Green later pleaded guilty to second degree murder to avoid the death penalty. Stielow’s case attracted attention from advocates who believed his confession was coerced due to his mental limitations, leading to repeated execution stays. During this time, Erwin King confessed to being an accomplice with Clarence F. O'Connell in the murders, though King later retracted his statement. Governor Whitman, after initially commuting Stielow’s sentence to life imprisonment due to lingering doubt, funded a reinvestigation led by George H. Bond. Bond's investigation uncovered evidence that Stielow's confession was likely fabricated by detectives and included conclusive ballistics evidence from Captain Henry Jones and Max Poser, a noted expert in microscopy, that proved Stielow’s gun was not the murder weapon. Following a second confession by King that implicated himself and O'Connell, Governor Whitman pardoned them.[40]

1920s

Year	Details of Exoneration
1920	Frank Jordano, Louisiana. Convicted 1919.[41]
	John Pender, Oregon. Convicted 1913, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1914.[42]
1928	George Williams, Fred Dove, and Frank Dove, North Carolina. Convicted 1922, sentences commuted to life in prison in 1923. Prior to his execution, codefendant William Hardison confessed, saying he acted alone and only implicated the other three out of duress.[43][44][45]
1929	Joseph Weaver, Ohio. Convicted 1927.[46]

1930s

Year	Details of Exoneration
1930	Gangi Cero, Massachusetts. Convicted 1927.[47]
	Richard Phillips, Virginia. Convicted 1900, declared insane and sent to a mental hospital in 1901.[48]
1931	William Harper, Virginia. Convicted 1931.[49]
1933	Harry Cashin, New York. Convicted 1931.[50]
	Edward Larkman, New York. Convicted 1926, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1927.[51]
1936	Gus Langley, North Carolina. Convicted 1932, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1933.[52]
1937	Eugene Williams, Willie Roberson, Ozie Powell, and Olen Montgomery, Alabama. Convicted 1931. Ozie Powell remained in prison for another conviction until 1943.[53][54][55][56]
1938	Ayliff Draper, Arkansas. Convicted 1935, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1936.[57]
	Tom Jones, Kentucky. Convicted 1935.[58]
1939	Thomas Mooney, California. Convicted 1917, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1918.[59]

1940s

Year	Details of Exoneration
1940	George Bilger, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1938.[60]
1942	Walter Woodward, Jack Williamson, and Charlie Davis, Florida. Convicted 1933.[61][62][63]
1943	William Wellmon, North Carolina. Convicted 1942.[64]
1945	Charles Bernstein, District of Columbia. Convicted 1933, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1935, conditionally pardoned in 1940.[65]
1946	Sidney Rudish and Morris Malinski, New York. Convicted 1943.[66][67]
1948	Lemuel Parrott, North Carolina. Convicted 1947.[68]
1949	Clyde Beale, West Virginia. Convicted 1926, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1922, conditionally pardoned in 1933.[69]

1950s

Year	Details of Exoneration
1951	Horace Wilson, James Thorpe, John McKenzie, and McKinley Forrest, New Jersey. Convicted 1948.[70][71][72][73] One of their codefendants later pleaded no contest and implicated them.[74]
1952	Silas Rogers, Virginia. Convicted 1943, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1945.[75]
1953	George Lettrich, Illinois. Convicted 1951.[76]
1956	Camilo Leyra, New York. Convicted 1950.[77]
1957	L.D. Harris, South Carolina. Convicted 1947, released after conviction was vacated in 1949.[78]
	Aaron Turner, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1946, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1953.[79]
1958	Harry Dale Bundy, Ohio. Convicted 1957.[80]
	James Fulton Foster, Georgia. Convicted 1956.[81]

1960s

Year	Details of Exoneration
1961	Thomas Mooney, California. Convicted 1916, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1918.[82]
1962	Robert Lee Kidd, California. Convicted 1960.[83]
	Isidore Zimmerman, New York. Convicted 1938, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1939.[84][85]
1965	Theodore Jordan, Oregon. Convicted 1932, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1934.[86]
1966	Robert Ballard Bailey, West Virginia. Convicted 1950, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1951, conditionally pardoned in 1960.[87]
1967	James Giles and John Giles, Maryland. Convicted 1961, sentences commuted to life in prison in 1963.[88][89]
1968	Joseph Johnson, Maryland. Convicted 1962, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1963.[90]
1969	Paul Kern Imbler, California. Convicted 1961.[91]

1970s

Year	Details of Exoneration
1971	Lloyd Eldon Miller, Illinois. Convicted 1956, released on bail in 1967.[92]
1973	Dave Roby Keaton, Florida. Convicted 1971. Remained in prison until 1979 for armed robbery.[93]
1974	Anthony Carey, North Carolina. Convicted 1973.[94]
1975	Freddie Pitts and Wilbur Lee, Florida. Convicted 1963, sentences commuted to life in prison in 1972.[95]
	Clarence Smith Jr., Ronald Keine, Richard Greer, and Thomas Gladish, New Mexico. Convicted 1974.[96][97][98][99]
	Christopher Spicer, North Carolina. Convicted 1973.[100]
	James Creamer, Georgia. Convicted 1973.[101]
1976	Clarence Norris, Alabama. Convicted 1931, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1938, paroled in 1946.[102]
1977	Delbert Tibbs, Florida. Convicted in 1974.[103][104][105]
1978	Earl Patrick Charles, Georgia. Convicted 1975.[106]
	Gary Radi, Montana. Convicted 1975.[107]
1979	Gary Beeman, Ohio. Convicted 1976.[108]

1980s

Year	Details of Exoneration
1980	Jerry Banks, Georgia. Convicted 1975. In 1981, Jerry Banks murdered his wife Virginia Banks and then killed himself. Jerry had recently agreed to grant his wife custody of their three children after she filed for divorce.[109][110]
	Larry Hicks, Indiana. Convicted 1978.[111]
1981	Michael Linder, South Carolina. Convicted 1979. Linder, a white man charged with murdering a black police officer, was acquitted after arguing self-defense. The prosecution claimed that he had planted the spent cartridges. In 1987, Linder kidnapped, beat, and raped a young woman, then beat a 16-year-old boy who tried to intervene. He then forced the woman into his car and drove away while drunk. Minutes later, he hit a car occupied by three women head-on, killing one. Linder was convicted of kidnapping and assault and sentenced to life in prison.[112][113]
	Johnny Ross, Louisiana. Convicted 1975, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1977.[114]
1982	Lawyer Johnson, Massachusetts. Convicted 1972, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1974.[115]
1986	Anthony Silah Brown, Florida. Convicted 1983.[116]
	Neil Ferber, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1981.[117]
	Clifford Henry Bowen, Oklahoma. Convicted 1981.[118]
1987	William Jackson Marion, Nebraska. Executed 1887. The victim was later found alive.[119]
	Joseph Green Brown. Florida. Convicted 1974. In 2012, Brown was charged with the murder of his wife in North Carolina. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 15 to 19 years in prison.[120][121][122]
	Perry Cobb and Darby J. Tillis. Illinois. Convicted 1979. The primary witness in the case, Phyllis Santini, was determined to be an accomplice of the actual killer by the Illinois Supreme Court. The Judge in the case, Thomas J. Maloney, was later convicted of accepting bribes.[123][124]
	Juan Ramos, Florida. Convicted 1983. Acquitted on retrial in April 1987.[125]
	Robert Wallace, Georgia. Convicted 1980.[126]
	Anthony Ray Peek, Florida. Convicted 1978. Peek remains in prison, where he is serving a life sentence for an unrelated 1977 rape conviction.[127][128][129]
1988	Robert Craig Cox, Florida. Convicted 1988. After his acquittal, Cox was returned to California to finish a prison sentence for a 1985 kidnapping. In 1995, Cox was arrested for holding a gun on a 12-year-old girl during a robbery in Texas. He was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to life in prison on account of his three prior felony convictions, one for kidnapping and two for assault with a deadly weapon. Cox remains a suspect in the 1992 disappearances of a mother and two teenage girls, as well as a separate abduction, in Texas.[128]
	Willie Brown and Larry Troy, Florida. Convicted 1983.[130] Brown, who was serving a 20-year sentence for robbery, was released from prison in 1988. Troy, who was serving a 25-year sentence for another murder, was released from prison in 1990. Both men were later sent back to prison for robbery.[128]
1989	Randall Dale Adams, Texas. Convicted 1977, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1980. He was exonerated as a result of information uncovered by film-maker Errol Morris and presented in an acclaimed 1988 documentary, The Thin Blue Line. Adams was released and all charges were dropped in December 1988.[131]
	James Joseph Richardson, Florida. Convicted 1968, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1972.[132]

1990s

Year	Details of Exoneration
1990	Clarence Brandley, Texas. Convicted 1981.[133]
	Dale Johnston, Ohio. Convicted 1984.[134]
1991	Gary Nelson, Georgia. Convicted 1980.[135]
	Charles Smith, Indiana. Convicted 1983.[136]
1992	Jay C. Smith, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1986.[137]
1993	Walter McMillian, Alabama. Convicted 1988.[138][139]
	Gregory Wilhoit, Oklahoma. Convicted 1987. Along with Ron Williamson, Wilhoit later became the subject of John Grisham's 2006 non-fiction book The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.[140][141]
	Kirk Bloodsworth, Maryland. Convicted 1985, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1987.[142]
	Muneer Deeb, Texas. Convicted 1985.[143]
	Larry Hudson, Louisiana. Convicted 1967, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1972.[144]
	Federico Macias, Texas. Convicted 1984.[145]
	James Albert Robison, Arizona. Convicted 1977.[146]
1994	Andrew Golden, Florida. Convicted 1991.[147] In 1996, Golden was arrested for molesting two girls, ages 8 and 9, in Texas. He pleaded guilty to indecency with a child and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.[128]
1995	Robert Charles Cruz, Arizona. Convicted 1981. Cruz, an alleged crime boss, disappeared in 1997 and his remains were found in 2007.[148][149]
	Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, Illinois. Convicted 1985, Hernandez's sentence was commuted to 80 years imprisonment in 1991.[150][151]
	Sabrina Butler, Mississippi. Convicted 1990.[152]
	Adolph Munson, Oklahoma. Convicted 1985.[153]
1996	Verneal Jimerson and Dennis Williams, Illinois. Convicted 1985.[154][155]
	Gary Gauger, Illinois. Convicted 1993.[156]
	Joseph Burrows, Illinois. Convicted 1989.[157]
	David Grannis, Arizona. Convicted 1991.[158]
	Troy Lee Jones, California. Convicted 1982.[159]
	Carl Lawson, Illinois. Convicted 1990.[160]
	Roberto Miranda, Nevada. Convicted 1982.[161]
1997	James Willie "Bo" Cochran, Alabama. Convicted 1977. At his retrial, Cochran was only convicted of armed robbery after the jury concluded that the victim had accidentally been killed by the police, who then framed Cochran for the murder.[162]
	Ricardo Aldape Guerra, Texas. Convicted 1982.[163]
	Benjamin Harris, Washington. Convicted 1984.[164]
	Christopher McCrimmon, Arizona. Convicted 1993.[165] McCrimmon remained in prison until 2020 for separate convictions for attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and burglary.[166]
	Larry Randal Padgett, Alabama. Convicted 1992.[167]
1998	Curtis Kyles, Louisiana. Convicted 1984.[168]
1999	Shareef Cousin, Louisiana. Convicted 1996.[169]
	Anthony Porter, Illinois. Convicted 1983.[170] In 2005, Porter lost a civil case after a jury found that his original conviction was justified. The 2014 documentary A Murder in the Park argued that Porter, who had been identified as the murderer by six eyewitnesses, was guilty, Alstory Simon, who was initially said to be "real killer" but later exonerated, was innocent and had been framed by Professor David Protess and his team from Northwestern University, who were more focused on undermining capital punishment in Illinois than on learning the actual truth about the murders.[171] Both witnesses, who were paid by Protess and his team, who testified in Porter's favor later recanted their statements.[172]
	Ron Williamson, Oklahoma. Convicted 1988. Along with Gregory R. Wilhoit, Williamson later became the inspiration for and subject of John Grisham's 2006 non-fiction book The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.[140]
	Ronald Jones, Illinois. Convicted 1989.[173][174]
	Clarence Richard Dexter Jr., Missouri. Convicted 1991.[175]
	Alfred Rivera, North Carolina. Convicted 1997. In 2001, Rivera was sentenced to life in prison for related federal drug trafficking charges. The life sentence was imposed on account of his prior convictions. Rivera was released from prison under the First Step Act in 2019.[176]
	Steven Smith, Illinois. Convicted 1986.[177]

2000s

Year	Details of Exoneration
2000	Earl Washington, Jr., Virginia. Convicted 1984, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1994. Remained in prison until 2001 for burglary and malicious wounding.[178]
	Frank Lee Smith, Florida. Convicted 1985. Smith died in prison in January 2000, before being exonerated later that year.[179] Smith became a suspect since he had two prior murder convictions.[180] The real killer was later determined to be serial killer Eddie Mosley.
	Eric Clemmons, Missouri. Convicted 1987.[181]
	Hubert Geralds Jr., Illinois. Convicted 1997. Geralds, a serial killer, remained on death row for five other murders, but had his sentence commuted to life in prison in 2003.[182]
	Michael Graham, Louisiana. Convicted 1987.[183]
	Joseph Green, Florida. Convicted 1993.[184]
	Oscar Morris, California. Convicted 1983.[185]
	William Nieves, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1994.[186]
2001	Charles Irvin Fain, Idaho. Convicted 1983.[187]
	Albert Burrell, Louisiana. Convicted 1987.[188]
	Gary Drinkard, Alabama. Convicted 1995.[189]
	Louis Greco, Peter Limone, and Enrico Tameleo, Massachusetts. Convicted 1968, sentences commuted to life in prison in 1972. Exonerations were posthumous for Tameleo and Greco, who died in prison in 1985 and 1995, respectively.[190][191][192]
	Peter Limone, Massachusetts. Convicted 1968, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1972.
	Joaquin Jose Martinez, Florida. Convicted 1997.[193]
	Donald Paradis, Idaho. Convicted 1981, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1996.[194]
	Henry Tameleo, Massachusetts. Convicted 1968. Posthumous exoneration, Tamaleo had died in prison in 1985.
2002	Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon, Florida. Convicted 1984.[195]
	Ray Krone, Arizona. Convicted 1992.[196][197]
	Thomas Kimbell, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1998.[198]
	Andre Minnitt, Arizona. Convicted 1993.[199] Minnitt remained in prison until 2025 for separate convictions for attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and burglary.[166]
	Larry Osborne, Kentucky. Convicted 1999.[200]
2003	Nicholas Yarris, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1982.[201]
	John Thompson, Louisiana. Convicted 1985.[202]
	Joseph Amrine, Missouri. Convicted 1986.[203]
	Madison Hobley, Illinois. Convicted 1990, pardoned on account of confession being obtained under torture.[204]
	Rudolph Holton, Florida. Convicted 1986.[205]
	Stanley Howard, Illinois. Convicted 1987, pardoned on account of confession being obtained under torture.[206] Howard remained in prison for rape and kidnapping until 2023. He maintained his innocence for these lesser crimes, but DNA tests confirmed his guilt.[207]
	Timothy Howard, Ohio. Convicted 1977, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1978.[208]
	Gary Lamar James, Ohio. Convicted 1977, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1978.[209]
	Leroy Orange, Illinois. Convicted 1985, pardoned on account of confession being obtained under torture.[210]
	Aaron Patterson, Illinois. Convicted 1989, pardoned on account of confession being obtained under torture.[211]
	Lemuel Prion, Arizona. Convicted 1999.[212]
	Wesley Quick, Alabama. Convicted 1997.[213] Quick remains in prison, where he is serving a 33-year sentence for three burglary convictions.[214]
2004	Alan Gell, North Carolina. Convicted 1995.[215]
	Ernest Willis, Texas. Convicted 1987.[216]
	Ryan Matthews, Louisiana. Convicted 1999.[217]
	Laurence Adams, Massachusetts. Convicted 1974, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1975.[218]
	Dan L. Bright, Louisiana. Convicted 1996.[219]
	Patrick Croy, California. Convicted 1979, released in 1990 after his most serious convictions were overturned.[220]
	Gordon Steidl, Illinois. Convicted 1987, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1999.[221]
2005	Derrick Jamison, Ohio. Convicted 1985.[222]
	Harold C. Wilson, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1989.[223]
2007	Curtis McCarty, Oklahoma. Convicted 1986.[224]
	Jonathon Hoffman, North Carolina. Convicted 1996.[225]
	Michael Lee McCormick, Tennessee. Convicted 1987.[226]
2008	Kennedy Brewer, Mississippi. Convicted 1995.[227]
	Glen Edward Chapman, North Carolina. Convicted 1995.[228]
	Levon Jones, North Carolina. Convicted 1993.[229]
	Michael Blair, Texas. Convicted 1994.[230][231] Blair remains in prison, where he is serving four life sentences for raping four children, including those of a witness who testified against him in the murder case. Blair has admitted his guilt in the rapes.[232]
2009	Herman Lindsey, Florida. Convicted 2006.
	Nathson Fields, Illinois. Convicted 1986, sentence commuted to life in prison in 2003.[233]
	Paul House, Tennessee. Convicted 1986.[234][235]
	Daniel Wade Moore, Alabama. Convicted 2002.[236]
	Ronald Kitchen, Illinois. Convicted 1988, sentence commuted to life in prison in 2003.[237]
	Michael Toney, Texas. Convicted 1999. Toney died in a car accident on October 3, 2009, just one month and a day after his exoneration.[238]
	Yancy Douglas, Oklahoma. Convicted 1995.[239]
	Paris Powell, Oklahoma. Convicted 1997.[240]
	Robert Springsteen, Texas. Convicted 2001, sentence commuted to life in prison in 2005.[241]

2010s

Year	Details of Exoneration
2010	Anthony Charles Graves, Texas. Convicted 1994.[242]
2011	Joe Arridy, Colorado. Executed 1939. Posthumously pardoned.
	Gussie Vann, Tennessee. Convicted 1984.[243] Vann remains in prison, where he is serving a 50-year sentence for two related aggravated rape convictions.[244]
2012	Damon Thibodeaux, Louisiana. Convicted 1997.[245]
	Seth Penalver, Florida. Convicted 1994.[246]
	Joe D'Ambrosio, Ohio. Convicted 1989.[247]
	Dale Johnston, Ohio. Convicted 1984, case dismissed in 1990.[248][249]
2013	Haywood Patterson, Charlie Weems, and Andy Wright, Alabama. Convicted 1931, sentences commuted to 75 to 99 years in prison in 1937/1938. Weems was paroled in 1943, Wright was paroled in 1944, and Patterson escaped from prison in 1949. After violating his parole, Wright was returned to prison until 1950. Patterson was later found living in Michigan, but the governor refused to extradite him. However, in 1951, Patterson was convicted of manslaughter for killing a man during a fight. He was sentenced to six to 15 years in prison and died in prison in 1952.
	Reginald Griffin, Missouri. Convicted 1983, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1993.[250]
2014	Glenn Ford, Louisiana. Convicted 1984.[251]
	Carl Dausch, Florida. Convicted 2011. Dausch was serving a 60-year sentence in Indiana for 1990 convictions for rape, criminal confinement, and battery when he was tied to the scene of the murder, which was committed in 1987, with DNA on a cigarette found in the victim's car, albeit the Supreme Court of Florida found that the evidence was still insufficient. Dausch remained in prison for his other crimes until 2018.[252]
	Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, North Carolina. Convicted 1984, Brown's sentence commuted to life in prison in 1992.[253]
	Ricky Jackson, Ronnie Bridgeman, and Wiley Bridgeman, Ohio. Convicted 1975, Jackson's sentences commuted to life in prison in 1977/1978. Ronnie Bridgeman had been paroled in 2003.[254][255]
	George Stinney Jr., South Carolina. Executed 1944. Conviction overturned posthumously.[256]
2015	Debra Milke, Arizona. Convicted 1990.[257] In 2020, Milke lost a civil suit claiming wrongful conviction. A federal judge found that Milke had repeatedly tampered with documents in the case. She had destroyed thousands of documents, including a journal written shortly after her conviction. The ruling makes it extremely unlikely that Milke will receive any compensation for her imprisonment.[258] One of Milke's alleged accomplices has maintained that she was the mastermind of the murder for which she was originally convicted.[259]
	Anthony Ray Hinton, Alabama. Convicted 1985.[260]
	George Spencer, Connecticut. Executed 1642. Conviction overturned posthumously.[261]
	Willie Manning, Mississippi. Convicted 1996. Manning remains on death row for a double murder.[262]
	Alfred Brown, Texas. Convicted 2005.[263]
	Lawrence William Lee, Georgia. Convicted 1987. Lee remains in prison, where he is serving a life sentence for another murder.[264]
	Derral Wayne Hodgkins, Florida. Convicted 2013.[265]
2017	Isaiah McCoy, Delaware. Convicted 2010, sentence commuted to life in prison in 2016.[266] In 2025, McCoy was sentenced to life in prison for federal sex trafficking charges in Hawaii.[267]
	Rodricus Crawford, Louisiana. Convicted 2013.[268]
	Ralph Wright, Florida. Convicted 2014.[269]
	Rickey Newman, Arkansas. Convicted 2002.[270]
	Gabriel Solache, Illinois. Convicted 2000, sentence commuted to life in prison in 2003.[271]
	Robert Miller, Oklahoma. Convicted 1988, acquitted in 1998.[272]
2018	Vicente Benavides, California. Convicted 1993.[273]
	Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin, Florida. Convicted 2006.[274]
2019	Paul Browning, Nevada. Convicted 1986.[275]
	Clifford Williams, Florida. Convicted 1976, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1980.[276][277]
	Charles Finch, North Carolina. Convicted 1976, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1977.[278]
	Christopher Williams, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1993.[279]

2020s

Year	Details of Exoneration
2020	Robert DuBoise, Florida. Convicted 1985, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1988.[280]
	Curtis Flowers, Mississippi. Convicted 1997.[281]
	Kareem Johnson, Pennsylvania. Convicted 2007. Johnson remains in prison, where he is serving a life sentence for another murder.[282]
	Roderick Johnson, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1997.[283]
	Walter Ogrod, Pennsylvania. Convicted 1996.[284]
2021	Sherwood Brown, Mississippi. Convicted 1995.[285]
	Eddie Lee Howard, Jr., Mississippi. Convicted 1994.[286]
	Barry Williams, California. Convicted 1986.[287]
2023	Alexander McClay Williams, Pennsylvania. Executed 1931. Conviction overturned posthumously.
	Glynn Simmons, Oklahoma. Convicted 1975, sentence commuted to life in prison in 1977.[288][289]
2024	Celia, Missouri. Executed 1855. Celia was wrongfully convicted of the murder of her master, whom she killed in self-defense after he tried to rape her.[290]

See also

• Wrongful execution
• Death row
• Miscarriage of justice
• List of death row inmates in the United States
• List of women on death row in the United States
• Thomas Haynesworth
• List of wrongful convictions in the United States