The Sad Stats Behind Wrongful Convictions
Since 1989, 300 convictions have been overturned as a result of DNA evidence. Eighteen of those convicted were on death row.
Yet wrongful conviction remains an issue across the country, often with devastating effects.
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DNA Testing
- 60% of people who have been exonerated using these methods have been financially compensated.
- The average person spent 13 years in prison before being released.
- Around 3,944 years have been served in prison by innocent people.
- With 46 exonerations, Texas reversed the most false convictions solved by DNA.
- Roughly 72% of wrongful convictions involve an eyewitness misidentification.
- 40% of all exonerations were the direct result of a DNA test since 2000.
Wrongful Convictions
- During the past 23 years, over 2,000 wrongfully convicted individuals have been overturned.
- Of the 873 exonerations recorded by the University of Michigan Law School and the Center for Wrongful convictions, 416 are homicide cases.
- Other cases involved.
| Sexual Assault | 203 |
| Child Sex Abuse | 102 |
| Non-Violent Crimes | 58 |
| Robbery | 47 |
| Other Violent Crimes | 47 |
- 51% of these cases involved perjury or a false imprisonment.
- 42% of them cited official misconduct as the reason for the falsehood.
- In Illinois alone, $214 million tax dollars have been spent to imprison innocent people…for a combined total of 946 years.
- The United States Justice Department estimates that 8% to 12% of all prisoners on the state level are actually or factually innocent.
Presented by Total Criminal Defense