National Geographic - USA (2021-03)

Martínez

4 years

Drinkard

6 years

Krone

10 years Thibodeaux

15 years

Padgett

5 years

Lindsey

3 years

Smith
5 years

Blair

14 years

Milke

25 years

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Official misconduct

Average, all races

Perjury or false accusation

Mistaken witness identification

26%

Misleading forensic evidence

26%

Inadequate legal defense

20%

Misleading forensic evidence

12%

78%

65%

Official

misconduct

Perjury

or false

accusation

Misleading

forensic

evidence

Inadequate

legal

defense

Mistaken

witness

identification

False

confession

Official misconduct

Misleading forensic evidence

35%

Perjury or false accusation

Official misconduct

Inadequate legal defense

41%

82%

65%

68%

of cases 62% 29% 25% 19% 13%

Perjury or false accusation

52%52%

56 56%%

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

REASON FOR

EXONERATION

Two out of three

cases involved official

misconduct, such as

concealing evidence.

In many cases a witness

lied under oath, com-

mitting perjury.

Law-and-order campaigns in

the 1980s sparked an explo-

sion of harsh punishments.

Skyrocketing incarceration

rates disproportionately

penalized African Americans.

Only two women—charged in

their children’s deaths—have

been exonerated, Debra

Milke and Sabrina Smith.

Exonerations of Black

people convicted of mur-

der were predominantly

linked to later findings of

police misconduct.

For whites, false or mis-

leading forensic evidence

was a principal reason for

wrongful convictions, five

points above the average.

For Latinos, perjury was

discovered in 14 of the 17

cases, 20 points over the

average. Inadequate legal

defense was also a top cause.

Patrick Croy, a Shasta-Karuk,

was exonerated for inade-

quate legal defense. Michael

Blair, an Asian American, was

exonerated because of mis-

taken witness identification.

CAUSE FOR EXONERATION BY RACE/ETHNICITY

DATA AS OF DECEMBER 15, 2020. ONLY INDIVIDUALS SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER 1972 ARE INCLUDED.

MONICA SERRANO, NGM STAFF; KELSEY NOWAKOWSKI. SOURCE: DEATH PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER