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Innocence

Innocent people released from death row, including two people assisted by EJI, attend a Chicago conference on innocence and the death penalty. EJI Director Bryan Stevenson gave the keynote address.

Since 1973, more than 130 people have been released from death row after evidence of their innocence was uncovered. For every 8 people executed in this country, one innocent person has been exonerated.

Seven people have been exonerated in Alabama. Walter McMillian, Randall Padgett, Gary Drinkard, Louis Griffin, Wesley Quick, James Cochran, and Charles Bufford are among those found not guilty of the crimes that originally put them on Alabama's death row. The astounding error rate in capital punishment is a serious indictment against the death penalty.

Since its inception, EJI has obtained relief for dozens of death row prisoners who were illegally convicted or sentenced to death. EJI represents condemned prisoners on death row, the incarcerated who have been sentenced to excessive and harsh terms of imprisonment, children sentenced to adult prisons, the mentally ill and others who have been unfairly or unreliably convicted. In 2006, EJI won freedom for several people who had been sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole for non-violent drug offenses or other petty crimes. EJI has won relief for a mentally retarded man who was wrongfully sentenced to death and is defending dozens of poor people who have been sentenced to death and denied adequate legal assistance which resulted in wrongful convictions.

News

EJI Wins Reversal for Death Row Client Jodey Waldrop

March 5, 2010

On March 5, 2010, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Jodey Waldrop's conviction and death sentence, ruling that his jury improperly was allowed to consider highly prejudicial prior conviction evidence.

EJI Wins New Trial for Death Row Prisoner Thomas Lane

February 8, 2010

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on February 5, 2010, reversed the capital murder conviction and death sentence imposed on Thomas Lane because he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

U.S. Supreme Court Orders Review of Judge-Jury Misconduct in Georgia Death Penalty Case

January 21, 2010

The United States Supreme Court on January 19, 2010, issued a decision in Wellons v. Hall, a Georgia death-penalty case in which jurors gave the trial judge and bailiff sexually suggestive gifts during Mr. Wellons's trial for rape and murder. The Court wrote: "The disturbing facts of this case raise serious questions concerning the conduct of the trial, and this petition raises a serious question about whether the Court of Appeals carefully reviewed those facts before addressing petitioner's constitutional claims."

Based on Procedural Requirements, U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence of Mentally Impaired Alabama Prisoner

January 20, 2010

The United States Supreme Court today denied relief in Wood v. Allen, an Alabama case which asked the Court to address whether trial lawyers performed adequately when they failed to investigate and present evidence of mental retardation. The decision focused on the procedural rules that limit federal habeas corpus review and did not reach the merits of Mr. Woods's claim.

Alabama Supreme Court Reverses Death Penalty Case After Finding Evidence of Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection

December 7, 2009

On December 4, 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the case of Jason Sharp, who was sentenced to death following a trial tainted by the State's discrimination against African Americans during jury selection.

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