Joaquín José Martínez,
49, is the only Euro-
pean to be exonerated
from death row in the
U.S. He was convicted
of the 1995 murder of
two people in Florida
and sentenced to
die. Florida’s supreme
court overturnedhis convictions and
ordered a new trial,
citing prosecutors’
efforts to prejudice
jurors and improper
statements by police
during Martínez’s
trial. At the retrial,
several prosecution
witnesses recantedtheir testimony. In
2001 Martínez was
acquitted. He now
lives in Spain and cam-
paigns against the
death penalty. When
Martínez was on
death row, Pope
John Paul II called for
his life to be spared.Joaquín José
Martínez
HILLSBOROUGH CY, FL
4 YEARS IN PRISON,
ALL ON DEATH ROW;
EXONERATED IN 2001
88 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC