Cases of Wrongful Executions

reasonable doubt (n.) - insufficient evidence that prevents a judge or jury from convicting a defendant of a crime

One of the most prominent arguments against the death penalty is the common lack of reasonable doubt. In fact, since 1973, 190 death row (DR) inmates have been exonerated in the U.S., 16 of which were from Texas alone.

The Stats (TX)

68.9% include official misconduct

67.9% include false accusations/perjury

32.6% include false/misleading forensic evidence

16.8% include false confessions

82.8% of cases in which DNA evidence proved a DR inmate's innocence include misconduct

Why is this important? Because it suggests that the denial of DNA testing and/or the absence of DNA evidence will result in wrongful convictions.

In a report conducted by the Texas Defender Service, 84 cases were found "in which a Texas prosecutor or police officer deliberately presented false or misleading testimony, concealed exculpatory evidence, or used notoriously unreliable evidence from a jailhouse informant" (Death Penalty Information Center). The full report can be found here:

https://www.texasdefender.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TDS-2001-State-of-Denial.pdf 

The Executed Innocents

Carlos DeLuna, 1983 & 1985

Who: Carlos DeLuna

Accused of: capital murder and attempted rape of 24-year old Wanda Lopez, 1983

Executed: December 7, 1989

Innocent: DeLuna claimed that he had been at a bar with a violent criminal, Carlos Hernandez, the night of the murder. When Hernandez did not return from a trip to the gas station, DeLuna found him wrestling with the victim, so he ran in fear. Police claimed Hernandez did not exist, neglected to collect any blood samples, and received an inaccurate eyewitness testimony. Four years after his execution, a private investigator found the existence of Hernandez within 24 hours of searching. Hernandez confessed multiple times, but died in prison after being arrested for assaulting somebody with a knife.

Larry Swearingen, John Shapley, 2019

Who: Larry Swearingen

Accused of: capital murder of 19-year old Melissa Aline Trotter, 1999

Executed: August 21, 2019

Innocent: Swearingen, a married man in 1999, according to him and eyewitness testimonies, left a study session with Trotter, and she was later seen with a different man. She then went missing, and her body was found less than a month later. Swearingen's defense attorneys argued for two decades that multiple factors ensured his innocence, including DNA under Trotter's fingernails that weren't Swearingen's and pantyhose around her neck that could not be connected to Swearingen despite prosecutors' claims.

NOTE: In the cases of DeLuna and Swearingen, neither have been granted certificates of innocence. Their cases are simply examples of how misconduct and other factors do not allow a conviction without reasonable doubt.

Other cases of potentially wrongful executions in the state of Texas:

Ruben Cantu https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent#Ruben_Cantu

Gary Graham https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent#Gary_Graham

Claude Jones https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent#Claude_Jones

Cameron Todd Willingham https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent#Cameron_Willingham