A wrongful conviction is perhaps the worst possible outcome in the criminal justice system––and it is made unthinkably worse when the result of a wrongful conviction is execution by the government. Even one wrongful conviction resulting in the death of an innocent person should be considered intolerable. Unfortunately, wrongful convictions occur in death penalty cases at an alarming rate.
Since 1979, 11 people in Ohio have been exonerated while on death row awaiting execution.
The Death Penalty Information Center maintains a database of death row exonerations in the United States. The database only includes cases where individuals were acquitted of all charges, had all their charges dismissed, or received a complete pardon based on evidence of their innocence. It provides very conservative estimates and likely understates the true number of innocent people who have been sentenced to death in America.
Death Row Exonerations Nationwide
• Since 1972, over 185 Americans have been exonerated while awaiting executions on death row.
• 68% of exonerations involved perjury or false accusations.
• 69% of exonerations involved misconduct by officials.
Death Row Exonerations in Ohio
• Since 1979, 11 individuals have been exonerated while on death row awaiting execution in Ohio.
• Nine of those cases involved perjury or false accusations.
• Ten cases involved official misconduct.
• In Ohio, for every 6.2 executions, one innocent person on death row has been exonerated
• On average, exonerees in Ohio had been on death row for 20 years.
• The longest sentence served by a death row exoneree was 39 years.
Full document: Abolishing Ohio’s death penalty would be good for justice and for taxpayers