Dna Exonerations facts

While investigating facts about Dna Exonerations, I found out little known, but curios details like:

Clarence Elkins, who was wrongly imprisoned for the murder of his mother-in-law and assault of his 6-year-old niece. His wife worked hard to exonerate him and found a likely suspect who was in the same jail as him. Clarence collected a cigarette he’d used. His DNA matched.

The first death row inmate exonerated by DNA evidence was wrongly convicted child murderer Kirk Bloodsworth in 1993. Ten years later, Bloodsworth discovered the actual killer had been incarcerated just one cell block beneath him

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 20 of the best facts about Dna Exonerations I managed to collect.

1. There is a project called the innocence project aiming to revoke wrongful convictions through DNA tests. They have recently exonerated a man who spent 36 years in prison for a crime he did not commit

2. In 1989 five teenagers were convicted of crimes related to a brutal rape when all 5 confessed after questionable police interrogation and served long prison sentences, only to be exonerated in 2002 when the real rapist confessed and DNA evidence confirmed.

3. David Camm served 13 yrs before being exonerated for the murder of his family. The prosecutor was later found to have been the real culprit's defense lawyer, faked an expert, and lied about checking crucial evidence. It had the culprit's DNA, prison nickname, and inmate number.

4. 362 people have been exonerated from convictions in the US by DNA since 1989. The average time served by exonerees is 14 years and 70% of convictions involved eyewitness misidentification.

5. The first ever case to use DNA fingerprinting actually exonerated a suspect who had confessed to killing two people. It was later used to convict the real killer

6. In 2014 Henry McCollum was used a prime example by the SCOTUS to allow capital punishment. In 2014 he was exonerated because he was mentally challenged and was coerced into confession and the exculpatory DNA evidence was never tested.

7. The first ever use of DNA profiling in a criminal case led to the exoneration, not conviction, of the prime suspect in a double homicide. A year later, DNA was used to convict the real killer.

8. Barry Scheck, the co-founder of the Innocence Project - which uses DNA to exonerate wrongfully convicted people, was a member of OJ's 'Dream Team' of lawyers and dismantled the prosecution's DNA evidence.

9. 25% people wrongfully convicted but later exonerated by DNA evidence made a false confession or incriminating statement

10. About Floyd Bledsoe, a Kansas man who spent 15 years wrongfully imprisoned, before exonerating DNA evidence was discovered and his own brother confessed in a suicide note.

What is true about dna exonerations?

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There have been 321 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States. False confessions and incriminating statements lead to wrongful convictions in approximately 27 percent of cases.

The first 289 DNA exonerations, 28 innocent defendants had pled guilty (10%). Research indicates juveniles under the age of 18 were three times as likely to falsely confess as adults. False confessions account for roughly 25% of overturned convictions based on DNA evidence. - source

In a 2007 report on "DNA Exonerations Nationwide", the Innocence Project reported 31 of the DNA exonerees pled guilty to crimes they did not commit (out of 329 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States). - source

Since 1989, there have been 365 exonerations of various crimes using DNA. 20 were on death row. The average number of years served before exoneration was 14. - source

Ray Krone- A bar patron who was convicted of murder in 1996 and sentenced to death based on his crooked teeth and bite marks on the murder victim he was assisting close the bar. He was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002 and a reality TV show dedicated two episodes to having his teeth fixed.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Alito Wrote A Decision Mocking A Death Row Inmate's Claim of Innocence; The Man Was Exonerated By DNA Evidence Three Years Later

In 1994, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia defended the constitutionality of the death penalty by citing McCollum v. North Carolina, saying "justice requires such brutal deaths to be avenged by capital punishment". In 2014, Henry Lee McCollum was exonerated by DNA testing.