Has there ever been a case in recent history in which a person was found guilty of a capital crime, tried, sentenced to death and executed and later was proven to be innocent?
I understand that this is a very controversial issue by nature and opponents of the death penalty claim that there is a disturbingly high number of such cases and would point to numerous examples.
What I am looking for is a well documented case in which the innocence of somebody who has been put to death was later proven to a point where everybody who was originally involved with the case (police, prosecutors, jury, judge, family of the victim, journalists etc.) agrees that a horrible error of justice has occurred?
Yes. I don’t have the book to hand, but one such case is detailed in ‘The Law’s Strangest Cases’. Basically a young woman commited suicide loudly proclaiming her father (maybe landlord ?) as her killer. She was heard by a neighbour. He was duly arrested, tried, convicted, and executed. Evidence later came to light which exhonorated him. He was posthumously officially exhonorated, and more than that I don’t sufficiently recall.
The neighbor??? Damn if I’ll ever be a witness and come forward.
And to answer the OP, at least in the US, Post-Furman in 1976, there has not been a case as described. The anti-death penalty crowd crave such a thing and it was the topic of a 2003 movie, The Life of David Gale…
The OP describes such an unlikely scenario that it would be very strange indeed if there were an example to show him. No, there is no case in which “everyone agrees” that the person was wrongfully executed, but there are plenty of cases in which it seems very likely so, such as the case of Todd Willingham.
Also, at least 15 people since 1992 have been exonerated and released from death row, after being found guilty and sentenced to death. It’s quite naive to think that the legal system has a perfect score here, and has somehow discovered every wrongfully sentenced person just in the nick of time.
I remember hearing of some cases. The problem is that DAs rarely admit they were wrong. You might find cases where almost everyone agrees the victim was innocent.
The Timothy Evans case was important in leading to getting rid of capital punishment in this country, and will be familiar to those interested in serial killers since the murder of which he was convicted was actually committed by John Christie. Derek Bentley might be better known, however.
In the United States, since the death penalty has been reinstated, no person executed after that time has ever been exonerated legally post-execution.
Not saying the government has a 100% batting average, just saying that the factual answer in the United States since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the 70s is that no executed person has ever been exonerated post-execution.
There have been a few where I know things were “getting close” and many others were people were sure things would turn that way.
Me personally I always believed Roger Keith Coleman was wrongfully executed. It was a big case in Virginia in the southwest part of the state which wasn’t too far from where I grew up, I read two books on it both of which detailed extremely fucked up things about the case against him. I was all but certain Virginia had executed an innocent man. When the commonwealth finally agreed to perform DNA testing which would most likely show us conclusively whether or not he was guilty or innocent (the type of testing involved was unavailable during his trial) I was almost 100% sure he was going to be the first American since DP reinstatement to be legally exonerated after execution. Instead, the DNA testing conclusively proved his guilt.
I’d bet my next 10 paychecks Todd Willingham was innocent.
The ‘evidence’ used to convict him was conclusively proven completely useless. He may have done it, but there’s no clear motive, and no physical evidence.
According to this Wikipedia article, Charles Hudspeth was sentenced and hanged for the (alleged) murder of a man who was found to be alive six months later:
Many people believe he is guilty. The song and the movie are very inaccurate. He was never proven innocent. He was granted a new trial and the prosecution decided not to pursue because some witnesses were no longer available and because of the amount of time had passed. And I’m sure because of the publicity.
And despite what Dylan said he could never have been champion of the world. His career was in decline.
Link to PBS documentary about wrongfully executed American Hawley Crippen, who was exonerated nearly 100 years after he was hanged in London for the murder of his wife. Wiki link here.
To answer the OP, I think there have been numerous cases where doubt has been cast on the guilt of the executed person. However, given the evidence being recorded and people enjoying conspiracy theories that is probably not surprising.
However, as the death penalty is not common in a lot of countries with decent records and proceedings, you may need to confine yourself to the USA (depending what you mean about in recent times).
I would disagree, for the last century at least most countries have pretty good records regarding Court proceedings.
There are several people who have been executed whose cases were clearly a miscarriage of justice. Yet in many of them, the issues were suspected at the time. Although not a death penalty case, the Birmingham Six in the UK was clearly a case of the system getting it wrong and it was seen as such at the time.
Many of the cases where miscarriages occur are where there was a case with great media attention (such as a particularly vicious and heinous murder) or with political overtones (such as many Terrorism cases) and where the inbuilt safeguards which the system employs are rendered less effective due to actions of persons under great pressure.
The system, lets recall has a great many inbuilt checks and balances to avoid this sort of situation, checks and balances which have mostly come about due to experience. You have Courts of Appeal, you have other types of Direct and Collateral review and if there is something in the case, it will most likely be revealed. Indeed I get annoyed when people state an opinion that a person is likely innocent on the basis of a report or a documentary as if the several levels of Courts who heard the case had not examined that argument and rejected it.
While it is not impossible for it to have happened, I submit that it is unlikely for the most part,.
It is my understanding that DNA tests proved the remains of the dismembered corpse were male. I assume Dr. Crippen either by virtue of his education or vocation married a female of the species.
American census records examined later indicate the missus was living in the US with a sister after the trial and execution.
