NCJ Number
101595
Date Published
1985
Length
102 pages
Annotation
This report presents vignettes of and discusses 343 cases in which Americans in this century were convicted of in which Americans in this century were convicted of capital crimes, and in many cases sentenced to death. They all were later found to be innocent.
Abstract
Selection of cases for this catalog was based on a definition of miscarriage of justice that involved conviction of an individual when no crime had actually occurred or conviction of an individual legally and physically uninvolved in the crime. Excluded are cases in which miscarriage of justice involved due process errors, questions of criminal intent (e.g., psychiatric disturbance), or the accomplice status of a defendant. Also excluded are cases in which a miscarriage of justice was avoided by official intervention after indictment but before conviction. Potentially capital cases were defined as those offenses for which the death penalty was or might have been imposed. The illustrative cases are presented chronologically (from 1900 to 1979). Each vignette cites the State of conviction and the information source, outcome of trial and appeals (if any), final disposition, and evidence of innocence. Tables summarize these cases in terms of jurisdiction, errors leading to miscarriage of justice, evidence of innocence, type of crime (homicide, rape, other), State admission of error, and final outcome e.g., erroneous execution, sentence, reprieve, and pardon). Case index and 149 references.