A study by the Death Penalty Information Center (“DPIC”) found more than 550 death penalty reversals and exonerations were the result of extensive prosecutorial misconduct. DPIC reviewed and identified cases since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned existing death penalty laws in 1972. That amounted to over 5.6% of all death sentences imposed in the U.S. in the last 50 years.

Robert Dunham, DPIC’s executive director, said the study reveals that this “‘epidemic’ of misconduct is even more pervasive than we had imagined.”

The study showed a widespread problem in more than 228 counties, 32 states, and in federal capital prosecutions throughout the U.S.

The DPIC study revealed 35% of misconduct involved withholding evidence; 33% involved improper arguments; 16% involved more than one category of misconduct; and 121 of the exonerations involved prosecutor misconduct.

Prosecutorial Misconduct Cause of More Than 550 Death Penalty Reversals and Exonerations

Consider the case of Darrell Jones (https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5584), where clear evidence of railroading was evident from the very beginning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NU9-JDqfpQ

And yet, the courts, prosecutors, law "enforcement", etc continued to squander your tax dollars to persecute this obviously innocent person. There should be outrage but instead, people are just happy that he got out.

https://reason.com/2022/10/11/adnan-syeds-exoneration-shows-how-hard-it-is-to-free-innocent-people/

Adnan Syed's Exoneration Shows How Hard It Is To Free Innocent People.

My public post to the California Innocence Project-

Who is going to help Steven Wayne Todd while Janey Peterson continues to slander his name publicly, accusing him of murder in order to free Scott Peterson!? Yes. The Janey that YOU featured as someone who’s helping the innocence project!!! She’s only ‘helping’ to gain support for her convicted brother in law! Why can’t you see this!? What she is doing not only detracts from the good you are doing but she’s smearing the name of an INNOCENT man while you stand idly by and do nothing!!! Steven Todd still lives in Modesto, CA. He has no money and no one to help him during Janey Peterson’s million dollar smear campaign!!! He broke into a house in 2002, went to jail and paid for his crime. He even took a polygraph test when asked and PASSED, unlike Scott Peterson!! 19 years later his name is being dragged through the mud and THE CALIFORNIA INNOCENCE PROJECT IS SUPPORTING THE WOMAN WHO IS DOING IT!!!!!! It is happening NOW!! HELP Steven Todd before it’s too late! Don’t let Janey Peterson throw an innocent man in prison for the rest of his life!!!! The Peterson Family has millions! Todd has nothing. If you are reading this and you care, please look into this. I am not donating another dime to the innocence project until they cut ties and tell her to STOP trying to frame an innocent man in order to free her brother-in-law!

It's season 1 episode 5 (it's on Netflix). James is accused of murdering two people by bombing. The evidence used against him is an "expert" tool analysis that showed the electrical tools in his home matched the type of electrical equipment used to construct the bombs. There is also also circumstantial evidence, such as James seeking to purchase a book about how to construct a bomb and a journal in his house where he wrote that he wanted to kill a woman because women would not love him. I thought that the tool analysis sounded like BS and he could have easily bought the same tools as the ones that were used to make the bombs because he lived in the same area, so I googled his case and found out that InnocenceProject is seeking a retrial. Keep it up; you're doing God's work!

Hi all,

I hope this is the one bit of advertising that we can allow, since it actually involves the Innocence Project. The Innocence Project is nominated for The Webby Awards, but it needs YOUR help to take home the People's Voice Award for "Websites and Mobile Sites- Activism"! Make your voice count by voting for the Innocence Project before the end of the day today:

https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2024/websites-and-mobile-sites/general-desktop-mobile-sites/activism

Please vote!

https://www.foxnews.com/us/year-exonerations-individuals-whose-names-were-cleared-2022-being-wrongfully-convicted

We are happy for these them but each one represents 1000 ppl who remain wrongfully convicted.

Give a shout out if you know any of these ppl convicted or exonerated.

Study: Prosecutorial Misconduct Helped Secure 550 Wrongful Death Penalty Convictions

If we were a rational nation, we would look at the sheer number of exonerations of death row inmates — at least 189 since 1973 — and we would look at those who were wrongly executed, we would look at the statistics that say that it is likely that four percent of those on Death Row are innocent and we would say "You know, maybe we are not good enough at this for such a permanent solution." Hell, even if we just got it wrong once, we should have ended it. Because how on earth do you argue that killing innocent people is so wrong that it deserves the death penalty while also potentially killing innocent people with the death penalty?

A recent study conducted by the Death Penalty Information Center has found 550 cases in which a death penalty or capital conviction was overturned after the discovery of prosecutorial misconduct — which accounts for 5.6 percent all death penalty cases imposed in the last 50 years. This means that since 1972, 8,770 people have been sentenced to death and in 550 of those cases, there was enough prosecutorial misconduct to lead to a reversal or, in 121 of those cases, a full exoneration.

Thirty-five percent of these cases were Brady violations in which the prosecutor deliberately withheld exculpatory evidence. In 33 percent of the cases, the prosecutor made an improper argument — which "encompasses situations where the prosecution makes inflammatory, inappropriate, or unconstitutional statements during the guilt or sentencing phase of the trial." Other reasons included jury discrimination, presenting false evidence (79 cases), jury discrimination (63), improper evidence (51), improper questioning (42), and violation of right to counsel (32).

Blacks are also more likely to be victims of misconduct.

https://michigan.law.umich.edu/news/national-registry-exonerations-report-highlights-racial-disparity-wrongful-convictions

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/uselection/adnan-syed-of-serial-fame-has-conviction-vacated/vi-AA120ZjB

Even with as much attention as it received, only now has the "justice" system finally admitted their error. Sad to think of all the many other cases out there.

"Around midnight on December 22, 2012 at 9538 Kelsey Meadows Court, in Northwest Houston, a group of home invaders entered the home of Jaime and Sandra Melgar. They tied up Mrs. Melgar and barricaded her in a closet, and stabbed Jaime Melgar to death in another closet."

However, the prosecution believed a different story & convicted Sandy Melgar, Jaime's wife. Despite having numerous medical issues & being found tied up in a closet, Sandy was still considered by detectives to be the perpetrator.

Numerous inconsistencies can be found here:

https://www.freesandymelgar.com/the-melgar-murder-case

I'm willing to do any and all I can- I'm in Arkansas and haven't found anything related to the innocence project in my State.
So I'm searching obviously for direction and if needed for anything- that I can do long distance- I guess instruction.

I'm eager to learn about volunteer opportunities available through the Innocence Project. Where can I find some resources?

https://www.criminallegalnews.org/news/2021/jun/15/deliberately-convicting-innocent-exonerations-expose-criminal-justice-systems-callous-indifference-toward-official-misconduct/

There was official misconduct in more than half of all exoneration cases. "Almost all of the official misconduct identified fell into five general categories: (1) witness tampering, (2) misconduct in interrogations, (3) fabricating evidence, (4) concealing exculpatory evidence, and (5) misconduct at trial."

"In 1,076 (83%) of the 1,296 cases where official misconduct caused an innocent person to be unlawfully deprived of liberty, no one was disciplined. No one."

"In these cases, innocent people were sentenced to prison—many to life-long terms, and 93 of them were sentenced to death. On average, these innocents spent 11 years in prison (13.9 years for those wrongly convicted of murder)."

https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/law/news/2020/choy-exoneration/_jcr_content.html

While racism may be common in non whites too, having the judges, prosecutors, cops/agents, court staff, law makers, prison administrators, attorneys, probation officers, leaders, etc all be predominantly one color has created & maintained extreme systemic racism which affects all non-whites.

Always realize that when those in power are the ones compiling statistics that they are fabricated.

For example, the DoJ (Dept of So-called Justice) faked the numbers of those dying in prison as well as hiding what race, circumstances, etc.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/utterly-failed-department-justice-undercounted-000850245.html

Statistics are always used to justify what those in power want those not in power to believe...whether it be statistics to claim that the DoJ is not racist, or in this case, that the DoJ is taking care of people, who are mostly those of color, in prison.

These are the types of statistics designed to convince ordinary white folks that those of color are pulling the race card too much or exaggerating the systemic racism issue.

The need for reform has always been a big issue with me. I never knew how to get involved until the recent innocence project JRE. I’ve been binging the wrongful convictions podcasts. Long story short I want to do something but am not sure where to start.

Might be a unpopular opinion but everytime Janet Burke says she’s “healing” I’m like from ducking what!? You accused and identified an innocent man, you have nothing to be healing for.

Then she goes on to blame the system FOR HER FALSE IDENTIFICATION she really doesn’t take the blame for anything she did and passes the buck.