GPS RESEARCH LIBRARY: Innocent People in Georgia Prisons: The Scope and Scale of Wrongful Conviction ============================================================ Georgia Prisoners' Speak — gps.press Generated: 2026-10-06 00:43:10 EDT Research Date: 2026-02-27 Topic: Wrongful Conviction JSON: https://gps.press/research-data/innocent-people-in-georgia-prisons-the-scope-and-scale-of-wrongful-conviction/?format=json SUMMARY ---------------------------------------- The National Registry of Exonerations' 2025 Annual Report documents 97 exonerations that occurred in calendar year 2025, the lowest yearly total since 2013, with official misconduct present in 72% of cases and homicide accounting for 53% of all exonerations. Georgia recorded exactly 1 exoneration in 2025, placing it among the majority of states with minimal exoneration activity. The report emphasizes that Registry totals are a 'basement figure' subject to continuous revision, as evidenced by eleven additional 2024 exonerations discovered after the prior annual report, and highlights the outsized role of professional exonerators (IOs and CIUs) in securing 58% of 2025 exonerations. STATISTICS (97) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Georgia: 42 of 60 exonerations since 1989 took longer than four years (70%) Forty-two of the 60 people the National Registry of Exonerations records as exonerated in Georgia since 1989, seventy percent, spent more than four years between conviction and exoneration. Four years is the period Georgia allows for a habeas petition in a felony case under O.C.G.A. 9-14-42(c). Forty-nine of the 60, eighty-two percent, exceeded one year, the period the same subsection allows in a misdemeanor case. Eighteen of the 60 fell at or under four years. This is an exceedance count rather than an average, because an average is pulled down by short cases the deadline never touched and therefore hides the people the deadline reaches. Value: 42 of 60 Georgia exonerations since 1989 (70.0%) (vs. 60 all Georgia exonerations recorded since 1989) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,georgia,exoneration,habeas,9-14-42,exceedance,registry - [confirmed] Georgia exoneration timelines by band, 1989 onward: 11 under 1 year, 7 at 1 to 4, 11 at 4 to 10, 16 at 10 to 20, 15 at 20 or more The full distribution of conviction-to-exoneration time for the 60 Georgia exonerations recorded since 1989. Under one year: 11 cases, 18.3 percent. One to four years: 7 cases, 11.7 percent. Four to ten years: 11 cases, 18.3 percent. Ten to twenty years: 16 cases, 26.7 percent. Twenty years or more: 15 cases, 25.0 percent. Georgia's exonerations therefore sit mostly in the long bands: 31 of 60, a bare majority, took more than ten years, and the single longest, Terry Talley, took 39.3 years. Total years lost across the 60 cases is 704.2. The shape matters for the habeas-deadline argument because the mass sits to the right of the four-year line, not at it. Value: 31 of 60 Georgia exonerations took more than ten years (51.7%) (vs. 60 all Georgia exonerations recorded since 1989) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,georgia,exoneration,habeas,distribution,registry - [confirmed] Fifteen of Georgia's 60 exonerations since 1989 took twenty years or more (25%) A quarter of the Georgia exonerations the Registry records since 1989 took at least twenty years from conviction to exoneration, five times the four-year habeas period. The 15 cases, longest first: Terry Talley 39.3 years; Ronald Jacobsen 30.4; Timothy Johnson 29.0; Lawrence William Lee Jr. 27.5; Mark Jones, Kenneth Gardiner and Dominic Lucci 25.1 each (the Savannah co-defendants, exonerated together on 12 July 2018); Darrell Clark 24.9; Robert Clark 23.5; Joseph Watkins 21.5; Sedrick Moore 21.5; Willie Williams 21.4; Sandeep Bharadia 21.2; John Jerome White 21.0; Devonia Inman 20.5. Eight of the 15 were homicide convictions and seven were sexual assault convictions; eight of the 15 involved DNA. Value: 15 of 60 Georgia exonerations took 20 or more years (25.0%) (vs. 60 all Georgia exonerations recorded since 1989) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,georgia,exoneration,habeas,long-cases,registry - [confirmed] Loeffler, Hyatt and Ridgeway: 6% self-reported factual innocence among state prisoners (2% DUI to 40% rape) Loeffler, Hyatt and Ridgeway estimate that "wrongful convictions occur in 6% of criminal convictions leading to imprisonment in an intake population of state prisoners." INSTRUMENT: this is SELF-REPORT of factual innocence, not adjudicated innocence. The study surveyed a population sample of state prisoners who were asked to report anonymously whether they were involved in the crimes for which they were most recently convicted. The paper's stated objective is to "estimate the frequency of self-reported factual innocence in non-capital cases within a state population of prisoners." Nobody counted in the 6% has been exonerated by a court on the strength of this study. The authors report separately that "implausible or false innocence claims are estimated to occur in 2% of cases," and Loeffler describes the 6% as an upper-bound estimate (Penn Today, 6 April 2018). OFFENCE-SPECIFIC SPREAD: the paper states the headline figure "masks a considerable degree of conviction-specific variability ranging from a low of 2% in DUI convictions to a high of 40% in rape convictions." That twentyfold spread is the reason a single flat rate applied across a whole prison population is a simplification. The rate depends on what the population was convicted of, so a system holding mostly violent-offence convictions and one holding mostly DUI convictions cannot carry the same number. SCOPE LIMITS: non-capital cases only; one state's prison intake population; anonymous self-report, validated against administrative conviction and demographic records for verifiable items and against a non-parametric plausibility test for unverifiable ones. The published abstract states neither the state nor the sample size. Penn Today's coverage reports nearly 3,000 prisoners surveyed in Pennsylvania; that detail rests on the coverage, not on the paper's abstract. CITATION: Charles E. Loeffler, Jordan Hyatt and Greg Ridgeway, "Measuring Self-Reported Wrongful Convictions Among Prisoners," Journal of Quantitative Criminology 35(2): 259-286 (2019), DOI 10.1007/s10940-018-9381-1, online first 6 April 2018. Source 966. WHY THIS ROW EXISTS: it replaces the retired 4-6% composite at data point 2239, which had no traceable source for its low end. The two companion anchors, each scoped to its own study, are data point 2244 (11.6% adjusted, Urban Institute / NIJ 2017, sexual-assault-component convictions in Virginia, authors' upper bound) and data point 2243 (4.1%, Gross et al. 2014, capital cases only). None of the three is a general prevalence rate for the whole United States prison population, and none should be presented as one. Value: 6.0 percent (self-reported factual innocence; authors' upper bound) (vs. 2-40 percent, conviction-specific range (2% DUI to 40% rape)) Date: 2019-06-01 Tags: legal,demographics,wrongful_conviction,methodology Sources: Loeffler, Hyatt & Ridgeway, "Measuring Self-Reported Wrongful Convictions Among Prisoners," Journal of Quantitative Criminology 35(2):259-286 (2019) - [confirmed] Georgia recorded 1 exoneration in 2025 Georgia recorded 1 exoneration in 2025, per Table 2: Exonerations in 2025 by Jurisdiction (n=97). Value: 1.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 97 exonerations recorded in 2025 The Registry recorded 97 exonerations that occurred in 2025. Value: 97.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [estimated] Innocent people in Georgia prisons: research band approximately 3,100-6,100; GPS publishes a conservative 2,500-5,000 GPS publishes an estimate of 2,500 to 5,000 innocent people in Georgia prisons. THAT PUBLISHED RANGE IS UNCHANGED and is deliberately conservative: it sits below the band the underlying research supports. DERIVATION, RESTATED 2026-09-19. The previous derivation applied the 4-6% composite, which has been retired at data point 2239 because its 4% low end traces to no source. It is replaced by a band whose two ends each stand on a named study. LOW END, 6%: Loeffler, Hyatt and Ridgeway, Journal of Quantitative Criminology 35(2):259-286 (2019), data point 19695. Self-reported factual innocence among state prisoners, non-capital, the authors' own upper bound. HIGH END, 11.6%: Urban Institute / National Institute of Justice (2017), data point 2244. Adjusted rate for convictions with a sexual assault component, Virginia 1973-1987, the authors' stated upper bound. DENOMINATOR, 52,268: GDC's own total in custody, Department measure MSR05 on the weekly snapshot dated 18 September 2026. ARITHMETIC: 52,268 x 6% = 3,136. 52,268 x 11.6% = 6,063. The defensible band is therefore approximately 3,100 to 6,100 people. WHY GPS STILL PUBLISHES 2,500 TO 5,000, BELOW THAT BAND: both ends are upper bounds by their own authors' account; neither study was conducted in Georgia; and the rate moves with the offence mix, since Loeffler finds 2% for DUI convictions and 40% for rape convictions. The published range is set below the band on purpose, so the number GPS defends in public is a floor rather than a maximum. Do not raise the published range to match the band without BT. THIRD ANCHOR, DELIBERATELY NOT IN THIS DERIVATION: Gross et al. (2014) estimate 4.1%, data point 2243. That is a CAPITAL-CASES-ONLY rate. It is never a general-population rate and must not be multiplied against 52,268 or against any other whole-prison-population denominator. Value: 2500.0 people (GPS published low end; GPS publishes 2,500-5,000) (vs. 3100-6100 people, research-supported band (6% to 11.6% applied to 52,268 in GDC custody)) Date: 2026-09-18 Tags: legal,demographics,wrongful_conviction,derivation Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025; GAgives fundraising profile, Georgia Innocence Project — attributes a 4-6% wrongful conviction estimate to the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, paper not named (UNVERIFIED); Estimating the Prevalence of Wrongful Convictions (Urban Institute / NIJ Grant No. 251115); Loeffler, Hyatt & Ridgeway, "Measuring Self-Reported Wrongful Convictions Among Prisoners," Journal of Quantitative Criminology 35(2):259-286 (2019) - [confirmed] Official misconduct in 70 exonerations in 2025 Official misconduct occurred in at least 70 exonerations in 2025, representing 72% of all 2025 exonerations. Value: 70.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal,investigations Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Georgia has fourth-highest state prison population in U.S. Georgia is the eighth most populous state but has the fourth-highest state prison population in the United States. Value: 4.0 ranking (state prison population) (vs. 8 state population ranking) Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: demographics,policy Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Official misconduct in 78% of 2025 homicide exonerations Forty homicide cases—78% of the 51 homicide exonerations in 2025—were marred by official misconduct. Value: 40.0 homicide exonerations (vs. 78 percent of 51 homicide exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal,violence Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [reported] Georgia incarceration rate of 881 per 100,000 When comparing Georgia to founding NATO countries, Georgia has the highest incarceration rate at 881 per 100,000 people. Value: 881.0 per 100,000 people Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: demographics,policy Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] IOs participated in 41 exonerations in 2025 Innocence Organizations (IOs) took part in 41 exonerations in 2025. Value: 41.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 4.1% of death-sentenced individuals estimated innocent A 2014 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that 4.1% of people sentenced to death are innocent, though only 1.8% are ultimately exonerated. Value: 4.1 percent (vs. 1.8 percent ultimately exonerated) Date: 2014-01-01 Tags: legal,death - [confirmed] CIUs helped secure 23 exonerations in 2025 Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs) helped secure 23 exonerations in 2025. Value: 23.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Virginia study: 11.6% adjusted wrongful conviction rate (12.6% observed), stated by the authors as an upper bound A 2017 Urban Institute summary technical report for the National Institute of Justice estimated wrongful conviction at 11.6 percent in a Virginia sample. The report gives TWO rates and they are not interchangeable. 12.6 percent is the OBSERVED rate: 29 of the 231 convictions with a sexual assault component that produced a determinate post-conviction DNA result yielded exculpatory DNA evidence that would support the convicted person’s exoneration. 11.6 percent is the ADJUSTED rate: the observed rate corrected by inverse probability weighting to estimate the rate across the larger sample (N=430) of both determinate and indeterminate cases. SCOPE: murder and sexual assault felony convictions disposed in Virginia between 1973 and 1987 across 56 circuit courts, restricted to the 714 convictions for which biological evidence from the original case survived and could be DNA tested. The rate was calculated only on convictions with a sexual assault component; homicide-only convictions were excluded because too few of them (n=20) produced a determinate DNA result. AUTHORS’ OWN CHARACTERISATION: the report states these estimates “may be considered an upper bound on the rate of wrongful conviction for these cases, since it is possible that even after Urban researchers’ careful review of courthouse information on cases with exculpatory DNA evidence, there could be some rightful convictions included.” The report states no confidence intervals. DO NOT present 11.6 percent as a general, national or current wrongful conviction rate. It is an upper bound, for one offence category, in one state, for convictions from the 1970s and 1980s, among the subset of cases that still had biological evidence available for testing. EDITION CITED: the 2017 report (Part II) — Walsh, Hussemann, Flynn, Yahner and Golian, “Estimating the Prevalence of Wrongful Conviction,” summary technical report, Urban Institute, NIJ Award No. 2013-IJ-CX-0004, NCJRS document 251115, dated September 2017. This is NOT the earlier 2012 Urban Institute study (Roman et al., “Post-Conviction DNA Testing and Wrongful Conviction,” Part I), which examined the same Virginia convictions but reported a different estimate that the 2017 report revises. The 11.6 percent figure belongs to the 2017 report only. CROSS-REFERENCE: the same finding is recorded as data point 3595 in collection 60, “False Allegations and Wrongful Convictions in Sexual Assault Cases: A Research Compilation.” The two entries were reconciled against the primary report on 2026-09-19; amend them together. Value: 11.6 percent (adjusted, inverse-probability-weighted; authors’ upper bound) (vs. 12.6 percent observed (29 of 231 determinate sexual-assault-component convictions)) Date: 2017-09-01 Tags: legal Sources: Estimating the Prevalence of Wrongful Convictions (Urban Institute / NIJ Grant No. 251115) - [confirmed] IOs and CIUs collaborated on 9 exonerations in 2025 IOs and CIUs worked together on nine exonerations in 2025, 9% of the total. Value: 9.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Over 51 exonerations in Georgia since 1989 The National Registry of Exonerations has documented more than 51 exonerations in Georgia since 1989. Value: 51.0 exonerations Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] 60 exonerations in Georgia since 1989 (Registry database, September 2026) The National Registry of Exonerations lists 60 Georgia exonerations that occurred from 1989 onward, counted from the Registry's own case-level database on 19 September 2026. Three of the 60 occurred in 2026 and five in 2025. A further 12 Georgia cases sit in the Registry's pre-1989 series, which the Registry codes separately and excludes from its headline statistics, so the all-eras Georgia total is 72. Supersedes the collection's earlier undated figure of "more than 51" (data point 2245), which is kept for the series. Value: 60 exonerations (Georgia, 1989 onward) (vs. 51 earlier figure recorded in this collection (data point 2245, undated)) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,georgia,exoneration,registry-refresh Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] Georgia exonerees have lost 704.2 years to wrongful imprisonment since 1989 (Registry database, September 2026) The 60 Georgia exonerees recorded by the National Registry of Exonerations for 1989 onward lost 704.2 years to wrongful imprisonment between them, on the Registry's own years-lost measure, counted 19 September 2026. Fifteen of the 60 lost 20 years or more; the longest was 39.3 years. Including the 12 pre-1989 Georgia cases the all-eras total is 740.5 years. Supersedes the collection's earlier undated figure of approximately 610 years (data point 2246), which is kept for the series. Value: 704.2 years lost (Georgia exonerees, 1989 onward) (vs. 610 earlier figure recorded in this collection (data point 2246, undated)) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,georgia,exoneration,registry-refresh Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] Georgia exonerees lost an average of 11.7 years each, median 10.7 (Registry database, September 2026) Across the 60 Georgia exonerations recorded by the National Registry of Exonerations for 1989 onward, the average time lost to wrongful imprisonment is 11.7 years and the median is 10.7 years, counted 19 September 2026. The range runs from under a year to 39.3 years. The collection's earlier undated data point 2249 states that the Georgia average "exceeds 12 years"; on the current Registry data it does not — 704.2 years over 60 cases is 11.74. Data point 2249 is kept for the series and this one records the current value. Value: 11.7 years (mean time lost per Georgia exoneree) (vs. 12 earlier figure recorded in this collection (data point 2249, undated: "exceeds 12 years")) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,georgia,exoneration,registry-refresh Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] 24.1% of people exonerated since 1989 had pleaded guilty — 930 of 3,862 Of the 3,862 exonerations since 1989 in the National Registry of Exonerations, 930 involved a defendant who had pleaded guilty: 24.1 percent, counted from the Registry's case-level database on 19 September 2026. Nearly one exoneree in four was convicted on their own plea rather than at trial. The share is higher in cases without DNA evidence (847 of 3,213, 26.4 percent) than in DNA cases (83 of 649, 12.8 percent). In Georgia the figure is 4 of 60. Across all eras, including the Registry's 478 pre-1989 cases, the count is 930 of 4,340, or 21.4 percent. Value: 24.1 percent of post-1989 exonerees who pleaded guilty (vs. 930 guilty pleas among 3,862 post-1989 exonerations) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,plea-bargaining,exoneration,vision-2027 Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] Non-DNA exonerees lost an average of 8.2 years, median 4.0 — against 15.3 years for DNA exonerees Most exonerations are not DNA cases, and they run on a different clock. Of the 3,862 exonerations since 1989 in the National Registry of Exonerations, 3,213 involved no DNA evidence; those exonerees lost an average of 8.2 years to wrongful imprisonment, with a median of 4.0 years. The 649 DNA exonerees lost an average of 15.3 years, median 14.9. Across all 3,862 the average is 9.4 years and the median 5.6. Counted from the Registry database on 19 September 2026. This is the general figure the collection previously lacked: data point 2269 records 14 years for DNA exonerees only, which is the slower and less representative half of the record. Value: 8.2 years lost on average (non-DNA exonerations, 1989 onward) (vs. 15.3 years lost on average, DNA exonerations (n=649)) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,habeas,exoneration,vision-2027 Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] 56 of 97 (58%) 2025 exonerations involved a professional exonerator Overall, 56 (58%) of the exonerations in 2025 involved a professional exonerator (IO or CIU). Value: 56.0 exonerations (vs. 58 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [reported] Georgia exonerees served approximately 610 years collectively Georgia exonerees collectively served approximately 610 years of wrongful imprisonment. Value: 610.0 years Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] 32% of 2025 exonerations were no-crime cases Of the 97 exonerations in 2025, 32% were no-crime cases (31 exonerations). These included wrongful convictions for drug possession, homicide, sexual assault, and child sex abuse. Value: 31.0 exonerations (vs. 32 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,drugs Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [reported] 87% of Georgia exonerees are men 87% of those exonerated in Georgia are men. Value: 87.0 percent Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,demographics Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] 78% of 2025 exonerees were people of color Seventy-eight percent of exonerations in 2025 (76/97) were people of color. Value: 76.0 exonerees (vs. 78 percent of 97 exonerees) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: demographics,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [reported] Black Georgians are 32% of population but 50% of exonerees Black people make up about 32% of Georgia's population but account for 50% of known exonerees. Value: 50.0 percent of exonerees (vs. 32 percent of Georgia population) Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,demographics Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] 61% of 2025 exonerees were Black Sixty-one percent of the exonerees in 2025 (59/97) were Black. Value: 59.0 exonerees (vs. 61 percent of 97 exonerees) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: demographics,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [reported] Average wrongful imprisonment in Georgia exceeds 12 years The average wrongful imprisonment in Georgia exoneration cases exceeds 12 years per case. Value: 12.0 years (average, exceeds) Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Average 14.2 years lost to wrongful imprisonment in 2025 Persons exonerated in 2025 lost an average of 14.2 years to wrongful imprisonment—1,373 years in total. Value: 14.2 years average (vs. 1373 total years lost) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [reported] Chatham County accounts for 20% of Georgia exonerations Chatham County (Savannah) has a disproportionate representation among Georgia exonerations, accounting for 20% of all Georgia exonerations despite being only the fifth most populous county. Value: 20.0 percent of Georgia exonerations Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,facilities Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025; Bureau of Justice Assistance grant description for Chatham County CIU - [confirmed] 37% of 2025 exonerees lost more than 20 years each Thirty-seven percent (36/97) of the persons exonerated in 2025 lost more than 20 years each. Of those, 13 spent more than 30 years in prison, and three spent more than 40 years in prison. Value: 36.0 exonerees (vs. 37 percent of 97 exonerees) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 13 exonerees spent more than 30 years in prison Of the 36 exonerees who lost more than 20 years, 13 spent more than 30 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. Value: 13.0 exonerees Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Official misconduct in 70% of 2024 exonerations (restated on 158 cases) The National Registry of Exonerations' 2025 Annual Report restates 2024: official misconduct was present in 70% of the 158 exonerations recorded for that year. Denominator 158. The 2025 report gives the percentage but not the case count for this factor, unlike the five other contributing factors it restates. 70% of 158 is about 111 cases; the report does not print that number, so it is not quoted as the Registry's own. Previously recorded here as 71%, on the 2024 Annual Report's 147-case denominator. Registry counts for a year keep moving after the annual report for that year is published. Value: 70.0 percent of 2024 exonerations (denominator 158, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Three exonerees spent more than 40 years in prison Three of the 13 exonerees who spent more than 30 years in prison spent more than 40 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. Value: 3.0 exonerees Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Perjury or false accusation in 73% of 2024 exonerations (115 of 158) The National Registry of Exonerations' 2025 Annual Report restates 2024: 115 of the 158 exonerations recorded for 2024, or 73%, included perjury or false accusations. Previously recorded here as 72%, on the 2024 Annual Report's 147-case denominator. Value: 73.0 percent of 2024 exonerations (denominator 158, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Compensation payments to exonerees exceed $5.5 billion since 1989 Total payments in the form of state compensation or civil damage awards to exonerees since 1989 now exceed $5.5 billion. Value: 5.5 billion dollars Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal,budget,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] False or misleading forensic evidence in 29% of 2024 exonerations (44 of 158) The National Registry of Exonerations' 2025 Annual Report restates 2024: 44 of the 158 exonerations recorded for 2024, or 29%, included false or misleading forensic evidence. The percentage is unchanged from what GPS held. What changed is that the figure now carries its denominator and its case count, which it did not before. 29% of 147 and 29% of 158 are different quantities of people, and a percentage published without its denominator cannot be checked. Value: 29.0 percent of 2024 exonerations (denominator 158, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 51 homicide exonerations in 2025 (53% of all) Fifty-one defendants were exonerated of homicide—45 for murder and six for manslaughter—53% of all exonerations and 63% of violent crimes (51/81). Value: 51.0 exonerations (vs. 53 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: violence,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Mistaken witness identification in 27% of 2024 exonerations (43 of 158) The National Registry of Exonerations' 2025 Annual Report restates 2024: 43 of the 158 exonerations recorded for 2024, or 27%, involved mistaken witness identifications. Previously recorded here as 26%, on the 2024 Annual Report's 147-case denominator. Value: 27.0 percent of 2024 exonerations (denominator 158, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] One 2025 exoneree was sentenced to death One exoneree from 2025 was sentenced to death. Value: 1.0 exonerees Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,death Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] False confessions in 14% of 2024 exonerations (22 of 158) The National Registry of Exonerations' 2025 Annual Report restates 2024: 22 of the 158 exonerations recorded for 2024, or 14%, included false confessions. Previously recorded here as 15%, on the 2024 Annual Report's 147-case denominator. Value: 14.0 percent of 2024 exonerations (denominator 158, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 13 sexual offense exonerations in 2025 Thirteen defendants were exonerated of sexual offenses; eight in cases where the principal crime was sexual assault of an adult, and five where the principal crime was child sex abuse. Value: 13.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,violence Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Inadequate legal defense in 35% of 2024 exonerations (56 of 158) The National Registry of Exonerations' 2025 Annual Report restates 2024: 56 of the 158 exonerations recorded for 2024, or 35%, included inadequate legal defense. Inadequate legal defense, or ILD, is the Registry variable that captures much of the same conduct that would qualify for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. The restated 2024 figure is higher than what GPS held, not lower: 35%, not 33%. Previously recorded here as 33%, on the 2024 Annual Report's 147-case denominator. Value: 35.0 percent of 2024 exonerations (denominator 158, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 17 exonerations for other violent crimes in 2025 Seventeen defendants were exonerated for other violent crimes, such as assault, robbery, and attempted murder. Value: 17.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: violence,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 84% of 2025 exonerations were for violent crimes In total, 84% (81/97) of the exonerations in 2025 were for violent crimes. Value: 81.0 exonerations (vs. 84 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: violence,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 16 non-violent crime exonerations in 2025 Sixteen defendants were exonerated of non-violent offenses, including four misdemeanors. Value: 16.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Official misconduct in 70% of 2024 exonerations (as restated in 2025 Annual Report) In 2024, official misconduct was present in 70% of the 158 exonerations, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report. Value: 70.0 percent (vs. 158 total 2024 exonerations as restated) Date: 2024-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Failure to disclose exculpatory evidence in 55 cases in 2025 Most of the 2025 exonerations that included official misconduct involved more than one kind of misconduct, such as the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense (55 cases). Value: 55.0 cases Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Witness tampering in 42 cases in 2025 Witness tampering was a contributing factor in 42 of the 2025 exonerations involving official misconduct. Value: 42.0 cases Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Perjury by an official actor in 30 cases in 2025 Perjury by an official actor was a contributing factor in 30 of the 2025 exonerations involving official misconduct. Value: 30.0 cases Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Misconduct in interrogations in 11 cases in 2025 Misconduct in interrogations was a contributing factor in 11 of the 2025 exonerations involving official misconduct. Value: 11.0 cases Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Knowingly permitting perjured testimony in 10 cases in 2025 Knowingly permitting perjured testimony was a contributing factor in 10 of the 2025 exonerations involving official misconduct. Value: 10.0 cases Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Prosecutorial dishonesty in court in 7 cases in 2025 Prosecutorial dishonesty in court was a contributing factor in 7 of the 2025 exonerations involving official misconduct. Value: 7.0 cases Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Forensic misconduct in 2 cases in 2025 Forensic misconduct was a contributing factor in 2 of the 2025 exonerations involving official misconduct. Value: 2.0 cases Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Black Americans are 13% of population but 47-50% of exonerees Black people make up approximately 13% of the U.S. population but account for approximately 47-50% of known exonerees nationally. Value: 50.0 percent of exonerees (approximate) (vs. 13 percent of U.S. population) Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,demographics Sources: Innocence Project data - [confirmed] Mistaken witness identification in 22 exonerations in 2025 Twenty-two exonerations in 2025 (23%) were for convictions based at least in part on mistaken witness identifications. Value: 22.0 exonerations (vs. 23 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Average DNA exoneree serves 14 years before exoneration nationally The average DNA exoneree nationally serves 14 years before exoneration. Value: 14.0 years Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal Sources: Innocence Project data - [confirmed] Mistaken witness identification in 27% of 2024 exonerations (as restated) In 2024, 27% (43/158) of the exonerations involved mistaken witness identifications, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report. Value: 43.0 exonerations (vs. 27 percent of 158 exonerations) Date: 2024-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Death-penalty exonerations since 1989: median 14.0 years, mean 15.2, range 0 to 48.1 (n=145) Time from conviction to exoneration in death-penalty cases, stated as a distribution rather than as an average, because the average is not a fair summary of this spread. POPULATION: the 145 exonerations in the National Registry of Exonerations where a death sentence was imposed and the exoneration is recorded as post-1989. The Registry holds 248 death-penalty exonerations in all; 103 of them are pre-1989 cases and are excluded here, because the Registry says its pre-1989 records are coded less completely. Every one of the 145 carries a years-lost value, so there is no missing data in this cut. FIELD: the Registry's own years-lost measure, Synopsis_Fields.syn_years_lost, which runs from conviction year to exoneration date in years. It is the same field the Registry uses for the years-lost totals it publishes. Snapshot taken 19 September 2026; the most recent exoneration in it is dated 9 September 2026. THE DISTRIBUTION (n = 145): mean 15.16 years, median 13.996, maximum 48.13, minimum 0.00 0 to under 4 years 18 cases 12.4% (10 of these are under one year) 4 to under 10 years 31 cases 21.4% 10 to under 20 years 57 cases 39.3% 20 years and over 39 cases 26.9% total 2,197.7 years across the 145 No case sits exactly on 4.00 or on 20.00 years, so the bands and any over-or-under counts at those thresholds agree exactly. LONGEST: Glynn Simmons, Oklahoma, 48.13 years, exonerated 19 September 2023. Then Charles Finch, North Carolina, 42.89; Clifford Williams Jr., Florida, 42.57; Ricky Jackson, Ohio, 39.27. WHY NOT AN AVERAGE: the spread runs from under a year to more than 48, and the mean of 15.16 sits above the median of 14.00 because the long tail pulls it up. Reporting one number hides that a quarter of these people waited 20 years or more while an eighth were cleared within four. REPLACES an unsupported figure. Four of the 145 cases, 2.8%, exceed 38 years. "Over 38 years" was never the average for death-row exonerations. Value: 13.996 years, median time conviction to exoneration (n=145 post-1989 death-penalty exonerations) (vs. 15.16 years, mean (max 48.13; 26.9% took 20 years or more)) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,death,wrongful_conviction,distribution Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025; National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] False confessions in 19 exonerations in 2025 Nineteen exonerations (20%) included false confessions in 2025. Value: 19.0 exonerations (vs. 20 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] False confessions in 14% of 2024 exonerations (as restated) In 2024, 14% (22/158) of the exonerations included false confessions, as restated in the 2025 Annual Report. Value: 22.0 exonerations (vs. 14 percent of 158 exonerations) Date: 2024-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Perjury or false accusation in 71 exonerations in 2025 Seventy-one exonerations (73%) included perjury or false accusations in 2025. This is the same as 2024 when 73% (115/158) of the exonerations included perjury or false accusations. Value: 71.0 exonerations (vs. 73 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [reported] GIP has helped free or exonerate 16 individuals, 372 years lost Since its founding, GIP has helped free or exonerate 16 innocent individuals who collectively lost 372 years to wrongful imprisonment. Value: 16.0 individuals freed or exonerated (vs. 372 collective years lost) Tags: legal - [confirmed] False or misleading forensic evidence in 39 exonerations in 2025 Thirty-nine exonerations (40%) included false or misleading forensic evidence in 2025. This is an increase from 2024, when 29% (44/158) included false or misleading forensic evidence. Value: 39.0 exonerations (vs. 40 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [reported] GIP has received over 7,900 requests for assistance since 2002 GIP has received over 7,900 requests for assistance since 2002. Value: 7900.0 requests for assistance (over) Tags: legal - [confirmed] Inadequate legal defense in 32 exonerations in 2025 Thirty-two exonerations (33%) included inadequate legal defense (ILD) in 2025. This is down slightly from 2024, when 35% (56/158) of the exonerations included inadequate legal defense. Value: 32.0 exonerations (vs. 33 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Four group cases representing 112 individuals published in 2025 The Registry published four cases, representing 112 individuals, in its Groups Registry in 2025. In each case, exonerations are tied together by a pattern of systematic official misconduct either in the investigation and prosecution or misconduct committed by a single official actor. Value: 4.0 group cases (vs. 112 individuals represented) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Groups Registry lists 49 cases involving 37,356 defendants as of April 2026 At the time of this report, the Registry lists 49 cases, involving 37,356 defendants in the Groups Registry. Value: 49.0 group cases (vs. 37356 defendants involved) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Eight pre-1989 exonerations added in 2025, dating back to 1911 In 2025, the Registry added eight pre-1989 exonerations, dating as far back as 1911. Value: 8.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 474 pre-1989 exonerations listed from 1820 to 1988 At the time of this report, the Registry lists 474 pre-1989 exonerations, from 1820 to the end of 1988. Value: 474.0 exonerations Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 47 exonerations from 1989-2024 added during 2025 calendar year During the 2025 calendar year, the Registry added 47 exonerations that occurred between 1989 and 2024—exonerations not learned of until after December 31, 2024. Value: 47.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 3,767 exonerations recorded 1989 through end of 2025 All told, the National Registry of Exonerations recorded 3,767 exonerations in the United States from 1989 through the end of 2025. Value: 3767.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 3,792 exonerations recorded as of April 6, 2026 The National Registry of Exonerations recorded 3,792 exonerations at the time of this report (April 6, 2026). Value: 3792.0 exonerations Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [estimated] Estimated $52.8 million liability if all 60 Georgia exonerees since 1989 claimed SB 244 compensation If every Georgia exoneree since 1989 pursued compensation under the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act, the state's liability would be approximately $52.8 million. ARITHMETIC: 704.1504 years x $75,000 per year = $52,811,280. THE YEARS FIGURE: 704.15 years is the total lost by the 60 people exonerated of Georgia convictions since 1989, taken from the National Registry of Exonerations' own years-lost field in the case database, snapshot of 19 September 2026. All 60 carry a value; none is missing. Previously this row used 610 years across 51 exonerees, which was an older Registry position. THE RATE: $75,000 per year of wrongful incarceration is the rate set by the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act, signed by Governor Kemp on 14 May 2025 as part of SB 244. It is recorded separately at data point 2278. THIS IS THE COMPENSATION RATE AND IT IS CORRECT HERE. It is not the annual cost of incarcerating someone in Georgia and must not be replaced with $31,614 or any other per-inmate cost figure. Those are different quantities answering different questions, and the conflation being corrected elsewhere in this library does not apply to this row. FOR SCALE: against a state budget of roughly $37 billion, $52.8 million is about one seventh of one percent. The comparison is the point of the row: the whole liability is small next to what Georgia spends. THIS IS A CEILING, NOT A FORECAST. It assumes every one of the 60 applies and every one qualifies. The Act is new and no claim history exists yet. Value: 52.8 million dollars (704.15 years x $75,000 = $52,811,280) (vs. 37 billion dollars (Georgia annual budget, approximate)) Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,budget,wrongful_conviction,compensation Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] 97 exonerations in 30 states and one federal court in 2025 In 2025, there were 97 exonerations in 30 states and one from federal court. Value: 97.0 exonerations (vs. 30 states plus federal) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Illinois had most exonerations in 2025 with 17 Illinois had the most exonerations in 2025 (17), followed by Texas (11), Ohio (9), and New York and Michigan (7 each). Value: 17.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Real perpetrators committed 56 sexual assaults, 22 murders, 23 other violent crimes Of 255 Innocence Project client exonerations and releases where the real perpetrator was identified, those actual perpetrators committed additional violent crimes while innocent people sat in prison — including 56 sexual assaults, 22 murders, and 23 other violent crimes. Value: 255.0 cases where real perpetrator identified Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,violence Sources: Innocence Project data - [confirmed] 11 of 17 Illinois 2025 exonerations were homicide cases While drug crime exonerations were the primary reason in prior years, 11 (65%) of the 17 Illinois exonerations in 2025 were in homicide cases. Thirteen of the 17 exonerations were in Cook County. Value: 11.0 homicide exonerations (vs. 65 percent of 17 Illinois exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,violence Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 3,767 U.S. exonerations 1989 through 2025 (3,792 by April 2026); 36,180 years lost The National Registry of Exonerations recorded 3,767 exonerations in the United States from 1989 through the end of 2025, and 3,792 at the time of its 2025 Annual Report on 6 April 2026. The Registry notes in the same passage that the figure will soon be out of date, because it adds exonerations continuously. YEARS LOST: the 2025 Annual Report gives no cumulative years-lost total, so the figure below is GPS's own computation, not the Registry's prose. In the GPS snapshot of the Registry's case database taken 19 September 2026, the 3,862 exonerations recorded since 1989 carry 36,179.8 years lost between them, using the Registry's own years-lost field. The snapshot count is higher than the report's because five more months of exonerations had been added by then; the most recent in the snapshot is dated 9 September 2026. Previously recorded here as "over 3,646 exonerations... more than 32,000 years," which was the 2024 Annual Report's cumulative position. Both halves of that pair have moved. THE REGISTRY CALLS ITS OWN TOTALS A FLOOR, not a complete count of wrongful convictions in the United States. Value: 3767.0 exonerations, 1989 through end of 2025 (3,792 as of 2026-04-06) (vs. 36180 years lost, 3,862 post-1989 records (GPS computation on the Registry database, 2026-09-19)) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] Eight of 17 Illinois 2025 exonerations tied to Reynaldo Guevara Eight of the 17 Illinois exonerations in 2025 involved corrupt former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara. Since 2004, 55 exonerations have been tied to Guevara's misconduct, which included using physical abuse to extract false confessions from suspects or false accusations from witnesses. Value: 8.0 exonerations (vs. 55 total exonerations tied to Guevara since 2004) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal,violence Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 158 exonerations in 2024, restated from 147 in the 2025 Annual Report The National Registry of Exonerations recorded 158 exonerations for calendar year 2024, as restated in its 2025 Annual Report. The 2024 Annual Report had reported 147; the Registry found 11 more 2024 cases after that report was published. YEARS LOST: the 2025 Annual Report does not restate an average years-lost figure for 2024. It gives that figure only for 2025 (an average of 14.2 years across 97 exonerees, 1,373 years in total). The 13.5-year average GPS previously carried for 2024 came from the 2024 Annual Report and applied to the 147 cases that report counted. FROM THE REGISTRY'S OWN CASE DATABASE instead, snapshot of 19 September 2026: 159 exonerations now carry a 2024 exoneration date, one more than the 2025 Annual Report counted. Across those 159, mean years lost is 13.40, median 12.67, and the total is 2,130.2 years. Note that the total is over 2,100 years, not the "nearly 2,000" GPS previously published on the 147-case count. DO NOT MIX THE TWO: 158 is the report's count, 13.40 and 2,130.2 are the database's across 159 cases. Do not multiply 158 by 13.40. Value: 158.0 exonerations in 2024 (as restated in the 2025 Annual Report) (vs. 13.40 mean years lost per 2024 exoneree (GPS computation over 159 Registry records, 2026-09-19)) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] Five of 11 Texas 2025 exonerations tied to Gerald Goines Five of the 11 exonerations in Texas in 2025 were tied to the misconduct of Gerald Goines, a former narcotics officer with the Houston Police Department. A total of 38 exonerations in the Registry are the result of Goines's misconduct. Value: 5.0 exonerations (vs. 38 total exonerations tied to Goines) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal,drugs Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Total compensation paid to exonerees exceeds $5.5 billion since 1989 Total payments to exonerees since 1989, in the form of state compensation or civil damage awards, now exceed $5.5 billion. This is the National Registry of Exonerations' figure as of its 2025 Annual Report, published 6 April 2026. Previously recorded here as more than $4.6 billion, which was the 2024 Annual Report's figure. This is a running cumulative total and it rises with every report. Value: 5.5 billion dollars (over) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal,budget Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 105 drug crime exonerations in 2022, 99 in Cook County The biggest peak in exonerations was in 2022, with 105 drug crime exonerations in a single year, 99 of them in Cook County, Illinois. These cases involved more than 200 people falsely convicted of possessing drugs and weapons planted by Chicago Police Sergeant Ronald Watts and his fellow officers. Value: 105.0 drug crime exonerations (vs. 99 Cook County exonerations) Date: 2022-12-31 Tags: drugs,corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 17 drug crime exonerations in Harris County, Texas in 2024 In 2024, a smaller group of drug crime exonerations (17) occurred in Harris County, Texas (Houston), pushing Texas to the top of the list for that year. Value: 17.0 drug crime exonerations Date: 2024-12-31 Tags: drugs,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Nearly 140 defendants cleared in Harris County drug possession cases 2013-2016 Prior to 2024, the last time Texas had the most exonerations in a single year was 2016, which capped a four-year period when nearly 140 defendants were cleared of drug possession convictions after the Harris County CIU discovered that scores of people had pled guilty to drug possession charges before lab results came back showing that what they had possessed were not controlled substances. Value: 140.0 defendants Tags: drugs,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Homicide is 40% of all exonerations in Registry (1,535/3,792) Homicide remains the largest category of exonerations in the Registry, with 40% of the total (1,535/3,792) as of the date of this report, and nearly half (49%) of the non-drug crime exonerations. Value: 1535.0 homicide exonerations (vs. 40 percent of 3,792 total exonerations) Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: violence,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] More than half of 2025 exonerations involved CIUs or IOs More than half (56/97) of the exonerations in 2025 involved work by CIUs or IOs, with both being involved in eight of those exonerations. Value: 56.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Official misconduct in 70 exonerations in 2025 (72%) We know of official misconduct in 70, or 72% of exonerations that occurred in 2025. Value: 70.0 exonerations (vs. 72 percent of 97 exonerations) Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 2025 exonerations by crime type breakdown Table 1: Exonerations in 2025 by Crime. Homicide 51 (53%): Murder 45, Manslaughter 6. Sex Crimes 13 (13%): Sexual Assault of an adult 8, Child Sex Abuse 5. Other Violent Crimes 17 (18%): Robbery 5, Attempted Murder 5, Assault 5, Other Violent 2. Nonviolent Crimes 16 (16%): Drug crimes 6, Burglary 5, Other Non-Violent 5. Total 97 (100%). Value: 97.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,violence,drugs Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 2025 exonerations by jurisdiction — full state breakdown Table 2: Exonerations in 2025 by Jurisdiction (n=97). Alaska 1, California 2, Colorado 2, Connecticut 1, Florida 1, Georgia 1, Illinois 17, Federal (TX) 1, Indiana 1, Kentucky 1, Louisiana 1, Maryland 2, Massachusetts 6, Michigan 7, Minnesota 3, Nevada 1, New Jersey 1, New Mexico 2, New York 7, North Carolina 1, Ohio 9, Oklahoma 1, Oregon 3, Pennsylvania 4, Rhode Island 1, South Carolina 2, South Dakota 1, Tennessee 4, Texas 11, Virginia 1, Wisconsin 1. Value: 97.0 exonerations Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,demographics Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Reynaldo Guevara misconduct tied to 55 exonerations since 2004 Since 2004, 55 exonerations have been tied to Reynaldo Guevara's misconduct, which included using physical abuse to extract false confessions from suspects or false accusations from witnesses. Value: 55.0 exonerations Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: corruption,legal,violence Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Gerald Goines misconduct tied to 38 exonerations A total of 38 exonerations in the Registry are the result of Gerald Goines's misconduct. Value: 38.0 exonerations Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: corruption,legal,drugs Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 2024 Annual Report reported 147 exonerations for 2024 When the 2024 annual report was published in April 2025, the Registry reported 147 exonerations for 2024. Value: 147.0 exonerations Date: 2024-12-31 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 2024 restated total of 158 exonerations in 2025 Annual Report The 2024 count as restated in the 2025 Annual Report is 158 exonerations, up from 147 reported in April 2025. Value: 158.0 exonerations (vs. 147 originally reported 2024 total) Date: 2024-12-31 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report METHODOLOGY NOTES (8) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Methodology: the national non-DNA median of 4.0 years is a drug-case artifact and is not the right comparator for Georgia Nationally, non-DNA exonerations since 1989 have a median of 4.0 years, which invites the reading that most wrongful convictions are corrected quickly. They are not. The short end of the non-DNA distribution is almost entirely drug cases: of the 651 post-1989 drug exonerations, the median is 0.47 years and only 43, 6.6 percent, exceed four years, because these are mass dismissals following police-misconduct scandals rather than contested innocence litigation. Remove drug cases and the non-DNA median moves from 4.0 to 6.5 years, with 61.1 percent exceeding four years. Georgia has exactly one drug case among its 60, so the national non-DNA median should never be used as Georgia's benchmark. The comparable national figure is 66.6 percent of post-1989 non-drug exonerations exceeding four years, against Georgia's 70.0 percent. Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: methodology,exoneration,registry,statistics,dna - [disputed] RETIRED: the 4-6% wrongful conviction composite, and why GPS no longer cites it RETIRED AS A CITABLE FIGURE, 2026-09-19. This record no longer asserts a wrongful conviction rate. It is kept only to document a composite figure GPS previously published and to show what that composite was actually made of. WHAT GPS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED: "An estimated 4-6% of people incarcerated in the United States are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted," carried in this library with 5.0 as the midpoint. WHAT IT RESTS ON: not one finding. The band was assembled from two Georgia Innocence Project web pages. Source 479, GIP's GAgives fundraising profile, says "According to the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, an estimated 4-6% of incarcerated individuals are innocent," naming no author, article, year, volume or DOI. Source 478, GIP's Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 page, states 4% and cites nothing at all. The Journal of Quantitative Criminology paper the GAgives page appears to mean is Loeffler, Hyatt and Ridgeway, "Measuring Self-Reported Wrongful Convictions Among Prisoners," 35(2):259-286 (2019), and its abstract reports 6%, not a range. The 4% low end traces to no paper. A band whose lower bound has no source is not a sourced band. WHAT REPLACES IT: three anchors, each standing on its own source and each scoped to what that source actually measured. None of the three is a general prevalence rate for the whole United States prison population. 1. 6% self-reported factual innocence. Loeffler, Hyatt and Ridgeway (2019), source 966, data point 19695. Self-report rather than adjudicated innocence, non-capital cases, one state's prison intake population, and the authors' own upper bound. Ranges from 2% for DUI convictions to 40% for rape convictions. 2. 11.6% adjusted, 12.6% observed. Urban Institute / National Institute of Justice (2017), source 908, data point 2244 here and 3595 in collection 60. Convictions with a sexual assault component only, Virginia 1973-1987, restricted to cases where biological evidence survived, and the authors' stated upper bound. 3. 4.1%. Gross et al. (2014), PNAS, data point 2243. CAPITAL CASES ONLY. Never a general-population rate. GPS no longer cites 4-6%, and no longer cites 5% as its midpoint. Where a rate is needed, GPS uses one of the three anchors above and states what that study measured. The Georgia estimate that used to rest on this band has been re-derived at data point 2240. Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,demographics,retired,sourcing-flag Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025; GAgives fundraising profile, Georgia Innocence Project — attributes a 4-6% wrongful conviction estimate to the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, paper not named (UNVERIFIED) - [confirmed] Methodology: an exoneration is a finding of innocence; an unconstitutional conviction is a different and uncountable population, and contributing-factor percentages never cross between them An exoneration is a finding of actual innocence. An unconstitutional conviction is not the same thing, and the two populations must never be conflated. A person convicted through a Brady violation, ineffective assistance of counsel, a coerced confession or a Batson violation, who is guilty or whose innocence simply cannot be proven, never becomes an exoneration: a successful constitutional challenge produces vacatur and a new trial, not an innocence finding, so nothing in that sequence generates a registry record. That population is therefore larger than the exoneration population and is counted nowhere. There is no denominator, and GPS publishes no estimate of it. THE RULE. The National Registry's contributing-factor percentages, official misconduct 70 percent, perjury or false accusation 73 percent, inadequate legal defense 35 percent, false or misleading forensic evidence 29 percent, mistaken witness identification 27 percent and false confession 14 percent, all on the 158-case 2024 denominator, describe constitutional violations WITHIN the population where innocence could be proven. They must never be generalized to convictions at large, multiplied by any prison or conviction population, or used to estimate how many unconstitutional convictions exist. Doing so is the same scope inversion as citing Gross et al.'s death-sentenced 4.1 percent as a general prison-population rate, which GPS corrected across its published surfaces on 19 September 2026. Every use states the denominator: '70 percent of the 158 exonerations recorded for 2024', never '70 percent of convictions'. The Registry is also not a clean innocence population. Of the 3,862 post-1989 records in the case-level database as of 19 September 2026, 651 are drug exonerations with a median of 0.47 years and only 43 of them, 6.6 percent, exceeding four years, because those are mass dismissals following police-misconduct scandals rather than individually adjudicated innocence. DO NOT ESTIMATE THE UNMEASURABLE; SAY WHY IT CANNOT BE MEASURED. In Georgia the route that would surface unconstitutional convictions is largely closed. O.C.G.A. 9-14-42(c) sets a four-year habeas deadline running from finality rather than from discovery of the violation, and across twenty years of the visible Georgia appellate record, 76 decisions citing 9-14-42, the statutory late-filing exceptions were invoked in 6 cases, opened twice, and produced relief once. The absence of data is produced by the thing being complained about. That is a finding, not a limitation. WHAT HABEAS IS FOR. Habeas corpus tests the lawfulness of detention, not innocence. Accepting an innocence framing for habeas concedes the State's framing and narrows the writ to something it was never limited to. GPS's position, that a conviction obtained through a constitutional violation is illegitimate, is published as the argument for Vision 2027 Priority 2, which shifts the burden so the State must prove the violation harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and never as a description of current law, under which the violation runs through Brady materiality, Strickland prejudice and harmless-error review and the ordinary remedy is retrial. The gap between the two is the reform. Innocence prevalence figures are supporting evidence for that argument, not the thesis. Date: 2026-09-19 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report; National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view) - [confirmed] Eleven additional 2024 exonerations discovered after 2024 Annual Report When the 2024 annual report was published in April 2025, the Registry reported 147 exonerations for 2024. Since then, eleven more 2024 exonerations were added that were not known at the time of that report's publication, bringing the restated 2024 total to 158. Date: 2024-12-31 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Registry totals are a 'basement figure' — not a complete count The number of exonerations in the National Registry of Exonerations is a basement figure. The Registry does not know how many exonerations there have been—only the ones discovered. With more than 3,100 counties and 94 federal judicial districts, it is impossible to ferret out all cases that would meet the criteria. Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Registry advises caution relying on annual report statistics The Registry advises caution about relying on statistics in annual reports because the constant addition of older exonerations means that relying on the online interactive database will always generate the most up-to-date and accurate statistics. Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Registry learns about exonerations from multiple sources The Registry learns about exonerations from a variety of sources, including its own research, innocence organizations, conviction integrity units, the news media, defense attorneys, and sometimes the exonerees themselves. Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Professor Jeffrey Gutman identifies compensated exonerees for Registry Professor Jeffrey Gutman of the George Washington University Law School, a Special Contributor to the Registry, studies compensation for exonerees and frequently finds cases of individuals who were compensated but were unknown to the Registry. He has identified dozens of such cases over the past several years. Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report FINDINGS (7) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] DOJ described Georgia prison findings as 'among the worst' ever The U.S. Department of Justice investigation released in 2024 found that Georgia's prison system violates constitutional rights and fails to protect incarcerated people from violence and harm. The DOJ described the findings as 'among the worst' ever uncovered. Date: 2024-01-01 Tags: conditions,violence,legal,investigations Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Multiple contributing factors in most wrongful convictions Most wrongful convictions involve multiple contributing factors that compound each other. Date: 2024-01-01 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report - [confirmed] Georgia's four-year habeas corpus deadline is inadequate The pattern is consistent: meaningful investigation of wrongful convictions takes far longer than Georgia's four-year habeas corpus deadline allows. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,policy Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025; GPS: The Death of Habeas Corpus Is Killing Innocent People - [confirmed] GIP founded in 2002, first and only innocence organization in Georgia The Georgia Innocence Project (GIP), founded in 2002, is the first and only innocence organization in Georgia. Date: 2002-01-01 Tags: legal,policy - [confirmed] Innocent people trapped in constitutionally violative Georgia prisons Innocent people in Georgia are not merely wrongfully imprisoned — they are trapped in conditions that constitute cruel and unusual punishment, as documented by the DOJ's 2024 investigation. Date: 2024-01-01 Tags: legal,conditions,violence Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Black exonerees face systemic disadvantages Black exonerees nationally are convicted more often, of more serious crimes, serve longer sentences before exoneration, and face greater barriers to overturning their convictions. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,demographics - [confirmed] No simple test exists for marijuana impairment unlike Breathalyzer for alcohol While police commonly use a Breathalyzer to measure a motorist's blood-alcohol content, no such simple test exists for marijuana. The analyst at the DuPage County lab said testing urine would give an accurate reading of whether a person had recently used marijuana, but other experts refuted her conclusions and said that the presence of marijuana derivatives in a person's urine did not indicate when a person had used the drug. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: drugs,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report CASE DETAILS (19) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Devonia Inman: 23 years wrongfully imprisoned Devonia Inman was convicted in 2001 for the 1998 robbery and murder of Donna Brown, a Taco Bell manager in Adel, Georgia. Sentenced to life without parole in a capital murder trial. DNA evidence found on a ski mask in the victim's stolen car excluded Inman and matched another man, Hercules Brown. Prosecutors had suppressed multiple police records and physical evidence pointing to another perpetrator — a Brady violation. Judge Kristina Cook Graham granted a new trial in November 2021, and the Alapaha Judicial Circuit DA moved to dismiss all charges on December 20, 2021. Tags: legal,corruption Sources: Death Penalty Information Center - Devonia Inman exoneration - [confirmed] Sonny Bharadia: nearly 23 years wrongfully imprisoned Sonny Bharadia was convicted in 2002 for a sexual assault in Savannah while he was working on a car in Stone Mountain, hundreds of miles away. DNA evidence on batting gloves recovered from the crime proved his innocence, but the Georgia Supreme Court ruled he 'took too long' to uncover the DNA evidence. Released in November 2024 and fully exonerated in May 2025. Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project Timeline Stories - [confirmed] Terry Talley: nearly 26 years wrongfully imprisoned Terry Talley was wrongly convicted of a series of violent sexual assaults in 1981 in LaGrange. Exonerated in 2021 after a reinvestigation and DNA evidence cleared him. The Georgia Innocence Project, LaGrange Police Chief Lou Dekmar, and Coweta Judicial Circuit DA Herb Cranford all agreed Talley never should have been convicted. Tags: legal Sources: Adel News Tribune - compensation article - [confirmed] Calvin Johnson: 16 years wrongfully imprisoned, evidence found near trash Calvin Johnson was imprisoned for life in Georgia for a rape he did not commit. Exonerated only because a summer intern walking through a parking lot at the back of the Clayton County DA's office noticed a box marked 'Evidence' next to the trash. The box contained the DNA evidence Johnson's legal team had been seeking for years. Tags: legal,corruption Sources: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health - Calvin Johnson story - [reported] Joey Watkins: over 22 years wrongfully imprisoned Joey Watkins was exonerated after 22 years for a crime he had nothing to do with. Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project Timeline Stories - [reported] Lee Clark: 25 years wrongfully imprisoned for crime that never happened Lee Clark was exonerated in 2022 for a crime that never happened. Walked out of Floyd County Jail into the arms of friends and family on December 8, 2022. Date: 2022-01-01 Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project Timeline Stories - [reported] Johnny Gates: over 43 years in prison Johnny Gates was sentenced to death in 1977 as a 21-year-old Black man for the murder of a 19-year-old white female. One of the longest-serving wrongful conviction cases in Georgia history. Tags: legal,demographics,death Sources: Georgia Innocence Project Timeline Stories - [confirmed] Mario Stinchcomb: 18+ years wrongfully imprisoned, exonerated via CIU Mario Stinchcomb was convicted of murder in 2002 in Atlanta's Pittsburgh neighborhood. Exonerated in 2021 when the Fulton County DA's Conviction Integrity Unit reinvestigated the case and determined Stinchcomb had acted in self-defense. Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project Timeline Stories; 11Alive investigation - Conviction Integrity Unit - [confirmed] Michael Woolfolk: exonerated alongside Stinchcomb in 2021 Michael Woolfolk was a co-defendant with Stinchcomb, also exonerated in 2021 through the Fulton County Conviction Integrity Unit. Date: 2021-01-01 Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project Timeline Stories; 11Alive investigation - Conviction Integrity Unit - [reported] Aimee Maxwell joined Fulton County DA CIU in 2019 Aimee Maxwell, founding Executive Director of GIP, later joined the Fulton County DA's office in 2019 as director of their Conviction Integrity Unit. Date: 2019-01-01 Tags: legal,policy - [reported] SB 244 originally inspired by Trump-Fulton County prosecution The Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act was tacked onto SB 244, which was originally inspired by the Trump-Fulton County prosecution. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,policy - [confirmed] Taylor Cadle case discovered via Mother Jones article In its March/April 2025 issue, Mother Jones magazine published an article about the case of Taylor Cadle, who was falsely convicted of reporting that she had been raped. She had been exonerated in 2017. Had Taylor not come forward and had Mother Jones not published it, the Registry would not have known about the case. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report; Mother Jones magazine March/April 2025 issue - [confirmed] Gregorio Cardona and five others exonerated in 2025 after Guevara misconduct Gregorio Cardona and five other men—his brother Robert Cardona, Fernando Gomez, Lowell Higgins-Bey, Michael McCastle and Harry Rodriguez—were wrongly convicted based on misconduct by Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara and his partner Ernest Halvorsen. The misconduct included coercing false confessions through violence and coercing false identifications from witnesses. The six men were convicted of crimes ranging from burglary to murder in the 1987 slaying of a man found bound and stabbed more than 40 times on the north side of Chicago. DNA testing excluded all of them from a DNA profile found on the murder weapons. Combined, they had served more than 110 years in prison. Rodriguez was exonerated posthumously because he had died in prison. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: corruption,legal,violence Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Subramanyam Vedam exonerated after 40+ years, then detained by ICE Subramanyam 'Subu' Vedam was convicted twice (1983 and 1988) in central Pennsylvania of murder in the death of a friend whose body was found in 1981 near State College. He was exonerated on October 2, 2025, after his legal team uncovered impeachment evidence against a key witness and mistakes by the state's forensic witness in analysis of the victim's bullet wounds. Vedam spent more than 40 years in prison. Despite his exoneration, Vedam, 64 at the time of his release, was taken immediately into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement based on a 1988 detainer. In February 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals vacated the 1998 deportation order, restoring Vedam's permanent U.S. residency. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Sherman Townsend pardoned July 9, 2025 after false witness identification Sherman Townsend was convicted in 1998 of a home invasion in Minneapolis, Minnesota, based on a witness who falsely named him to confuse police because he was the real perpetrator. No physical evidence connected Townsend, and people inside the house couldn't identify him. Townsend turned down a plea deal and was convicted. He was released from prison in 2007 on time served. The Minnesota Board of Pardons gave him a full pardon on July 9, 2025. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,reentry Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Raymond Gaines exonerated in 2025 after nearly 45 years in prison Raymond Gaines was convicted in 1976 of robbery and murder of a shoe repair shop owner in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts. He was released on bond in 2021 after serving nearly 45 years. In 2022, his convictions were vacated based on recantations by two prosecution witnesses and newly discovered evidence of misconduct by one of the detectives. The prosecution dismissed the charges in October 2025. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,corruption,violence Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Patience Frazier manslaughter conviction dismissed April 2025 Patience Frazier pled guilty to manslaughter after being charged with inducing an abortion by taking drugs in Humboldt County, Nevada, in 2019. Although the prosecution promised to seek probation, the judge sentenced her to 2.5 to 8 years in prison. In 2021, her conviction was vacated by a different judge following testimony that it was impossible to say there were signs of life after birth. An expert in addiction medicine said there was no evidence to support the claim that any of Frazier's behaviors had caused a stillbirth. The case remained pending for four years before the judge finally dismissed it in April 2025. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,drugs,medical Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] 18 DUI marijuana convictions dismissed in DuPage County, Illinois January 2025 In January 2025, prosecutors in DuPage County, Illinois, dismissed 18 convictions for driving under the influence of marijuana after learning of problems with testing done by the forensic laboratory that processed drug tests. The analyst at the lab said testing urine would give an accurate reading of whether a person had recently used marijuana, but other experts refuted her conclusions and said that the presence of marijuana derivatives in urine did not indicate when a person had used the drug. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: drugs,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Ronald Watts planted drugs and weapons leading to 200+ false convictions The 2022 drug crime exonerations in Cook County involved more than 200 people who had been falsely convicted of possessing drugs and weapons that had been planted by Chicago Police Sergeant Ronald Watts and his fellow officers. Date: 2022-12-31 Tags: corruption,drugs,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report LEGAL FACTS (7) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Georgia had no statutory wrongful conviction compensation process historically Georgia historically had no statutory process for compensating exonerees. Each exoneree had to find a state legislator to sponsor an individual compensation resolution that would have to pass through the full legislative process. Tags: legal,policy Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act signed May 14, 2025 In 2025, the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act was signed into law by Governor Kemp on May 14, 2025, as part of SB 244. Date: 2025-05-14 Tags: legal,policy Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Compensation rate: $75,000 per year of wrongful incarceration The Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act establishes $75,000 per year of wrongful incarceration. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,policy,budget Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Additional $25,000 per year on death row The Act provides an additional $25,000 per year spent on death row. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,policy,budget,death Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Three-year filing deadline from July 1, 2025 or exoneration date Claimants have three years from July 1, 2025, or from the date of exoneration, to file compensation claims. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,policy Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Prosecutors suppressed evidence in Devonia Inman case (Brady violation) In the Devonia Inman case, prosecutors had suppressed multiple police records and physical evidence pointing to another perpetrator, constituting a Brady violation. Tags: legal,corruption Sources: Death Penalty Information Center - Devonia Inman exoneration - [confirmed] Georgia Supreme Court ruled Bharadia 'took too long' to uncover DNA evidence In the Sonny Bharadia case, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled he 'took too long' to uncover the DNA evidence that proved his innocence. Date: 2024-01-01 Tags: legal Sources: Georgia Innocence Project Timeline Stories POLICYS (2) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Compensation claims heard by administrative law judges via OSAH Administrative law judges within the Office of State Administrative Hearings hear compensation claims under the Act. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: legal,policy Sources: Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025 - [confirmed] Registry data table now allows combined pre-1989 and post-1989 searches In 2025, as part of the launch of the Registry's new website, the data table began to allow searches combining the previously distinct 'Pre-1989 Database' with the main exonerations dataset. All individual exonerations are searchable and can be combined or distinguished using the 'Exoneration Era' filter. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report TRENDS (4) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] 2025 total is lowest since 2013 when 87 exonerations were reported The 97 exonerations in 2025 is the lowest yearly total in any annual report since 2013, when the Registry reported 87 exonerations. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Illinois regained top spot for exonerations, held six of last seven years As in previous years, a few states accounted for more than half of the total exonerations. Illinois regained the top spot, which it has held for six of the last seven years. Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Drug exonerations explain much year-to-year variability While drug exonerations explain much of the year-to-year variability in the number of exonerations in the past, homicide still remains the largest category of exonerations in the Registry. Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: drugs,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report - [confirmed] Homicide exonerations dipped in 2025 but still more than half of all While homicide exonerations dipped in 2025, these high-stakes, work-intensive cases still constituted more than half of all exonerations in 2025 (51/97). Date: 2025-12-31 Tags: violence,legal Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report DATA GAPS (1) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Pre-1989 exoneration data is less robust than post-1989 data Pre-1989 exonerations are researched and coded carefully, but due to several factors including the passage of time and the unavailability of many court documents, the data is not as robust as the data for exonerations since 1989. Not all variables coded for post-1989 exonerations are coded for pre-1989 exonerations. Date: 2026-04-06 Tags: legal,methodology Sources: National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report DATASETS (6) ---------------------------------------- # Causes of Wrongful Conviction (2024 Exonerations) Percentage of fully overturned convictions in 2024 involving each contributing factor, as reported by the National Registry of Exonerations. Categories are not mutually exclusive. Contributing Factor Percentage --------------------------------------------------- Perjury or false accusation 72 Official misconduct 71 Inadequate legal defense 33 False or misleading forensic evidence 29 Mistaken witness identification 26 False confessions 15 # Exonerations in 2025 by Crime Type Breakdown of the 97 exonerations that occurred in 2025 by crime category and subcategory, from Table 1 of the 2025 Annual Report. Crime Category Subcategory Count Percent of Total ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homicide All Homicide 51 53% Homicide Murder 45 Homicide Manslaughter 6 Sex Crimes All Sex Crimes 13 13% Sex Crimes Sexual Assault (of an adult) 8 Sex Crimes Child Sex Abuse 5 Other Violent Crimes All Other Violent 17 18% Other Violent Crimes Robbery 5 Other Violent Crimes Attempted Murder 5 Other Violent Crimes Assault 5 Other Violent Crimes Other Violent 2 Nonviolent Crimes All Nonviolent 16 16% Nonviolent Crimes Drug crimes 6 Nonviolent Crimes Burglary 5 Nonviolent Crimes Other Non-Violent 5 Total 97 100% # Prominent Georgia Exoneration Cases Individual wrongful conviction cases in Georgia with years of wrongful imprisonment and exoneration year. Name Years Wrongfully Imprisoned Year Convicted/Sentenced Year Exonerated ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnny Gates 43 1977 Terry Talley 26 1981 2021 Lee Clark 25 2022 Devonia Inman 23 2001 2021 Sonny Bharadia 23 2002 2025 Joey Watkins 22 Mario Stinchcomb 18 2002 2021 Calvin Johnson 16 # Exonerations in 2025 by Jurisdiction Number of exonerations that occurred in 2025 by state and federal jurisdiction, from Table 2 of the 2025 Annual Report (n=97). Jurisdiction Exonerations ------------------------------ Alaska 1 California 2 Colorado 2 Connecticut 1 Florida 1 Georgia 1 Illinois 17 Federal (TX) 1 Indiana 1 Kentucky 1 Louisiana 1 Maryland 2 Massachusetts 6 Michigan 7 Minnesota 3 Nevada 1 New Jersey 1 New Mexico 2 New York 7 North Carolina 1 Ohio 9 Oklahoma 1 Oregon 3 Pennsylvania 4 Rhode Island 1 South Carolina 2 South Dakota 1 Tennessee 4 Texas 11 Virginia 1 Wisconsin 1 # Contributing Factors in 2025 vs 2024 Exonerations Comparison of contributing factors in 2025 exonerations (n=97) versus 2024 exonerations as restated in the 2025 Annual Report (n=158). Contributing Factor 2025 Count 2025 Percent 2024 Count 2024 Percent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Official Misconduct 70 72% 111 70% Mistaken Witness Identification 22 23% 43 27% False Confessions 19 20% 22 14% Perjury or False Accusation 71 73% 115 73% False or Misleading Forensic Evidence 39 40% 44 29% Inadequate Legal Defense 32 33% 56 35% # Official Misconduct Subcategories in 2025 Exonerations Breakdown of specific types of official misconduct found in the 70 exonerations in 2025 that involved official misconduct. Most cases involved more than one kind of misconduct. Misconduct Type Cases ------------------------------------------------- Failure to disclose exculpatory evidence 55 Witness tampering 42 Perjury by an official actor 30 Misconduct in interrogations 11 Knowingly permitting perjured testimony 10 Prosecutorial dishonesty in court 7 Forensic misconduct 2 KEY ENTITIES (53) ---------------------------------------- - Aimee Maxwell [person]: Founding Executive Director of the Georgia Innocence Project. Later joined the Fulton County DA's office in 2019 as director of their Conviction Integrity Unit. - Board of Immigration Appeals [organization]: U.S. Department of Justice body that vacated the 1998 deportation order against Subramanyam Vedam in February 2026, restoring his permanent U.S. residency. (aka: BIA) - Calvin Johnson [person]: Wrongfully imprisoned for life for a rape he did not commit. Exonerated after 16 years when a summer intern found DNA evidence in a box marked 'Evidence' next to trash at Clayton County DA's office. - Chatham County [facility]: Fifth most populous county in Georgia but accounts for 20% of all Georgia exonerations, indicating disproportionate wrongful conviction issues. (aka: Savannah) - Chicago Police Department [organization]: Police department implicated in multiple wrongful conviction scandals including misconduct by Detective Reynaldo Guevara and Sergeant Ronald Watts. (aka: CPD) - Christina Cribbs [person]: Senior Attorney at the Georgia Innocence Project. - Cook County [facility]: Georgia county with the fortieth highest index crime rate in 1988 at 3,769.3 per 100,000 persons. (aka: Cook) - Devonia Inman [person]: Wrongfully convicted in 2001 for the 1998 robbery and murder of Donna Brown in Adel, Georgia. Sentenced to life without parole. DNA excluded him; prosecutors had suppressed exculpatory evidence (Brady violation). Exonerated December 2021 after 23 years. - Donna Brown [person]: Taco Bell manager in Adel, Georgia, murdered in 1998. Devonia Inman was wrongfully convicted of her murder. - DuPage County [facility]: Illinois county where 18 DUI marijuana convictions were dismissed in January 2025 due to problems with forensic laboratory testing. - Ernest Halvorsen [person]: Partner of Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara; involved in misconduct leading to wrongful convictions including the Cardona case. - Fernando Gomez [person]: Exonerated in 2025 in Illinois after wrongful conviction tied to Guevara misconduct. - Fulton County DA Conviction Integrity Unit [organization]: Unit within the Fulton County District Attorney's office that reinvestigates potential wrongful convictions. Led by Aimee Maxwell starting in 2019. Exonerated Mario Stinchcomb and Michael Woolfolk in 2021. (aka: Fulton County CIU) - George Washington University Law School [organization]: Law school where Professor Jeffrey Gutman works as a Special Contributor to the Registry, identifying compensated exonerees unknown to the Registry. (aka: GWU Law) - Georgia [organization]: U.S. state that is the subject of this criminal justice data compilation (aka: State of Georgia) - Georgia Department of Corrections [organization]: State agency responsible for operating Georgia's prison system. Subject of federal DOJ investigation in 2022-2023 for constitutional violations including food-related deaths. (aka: GDC) - Georgia Innocence Project [organization]: Founded in 2002, the first and only innocence organization in Georgia. Has helped free or exonerate 16 individuals who collectively lost 372 years to wrongful imprisonment. Received over 7,900 requests for assistance. (aka: GIP) - Georgia Prisoners' Speak [organization]: Advocacy organization documenting conditions inside Georgia prisons through photos and insider accounts, including food inadequacy. (aka: GPS) - Gerald Goines [person]: Former narcotics officer with the Houston Police Department whose misconduct is tied to 38 exonerations in the Registry. Five of the 11 Texas exonerations in 2025 were tied to Goines. - Gregorio Cardona [person]: Exonerated in 2025 in Illinois after wrongful conviction for murder/burglary/home invasion in the 1987 slaying of a man in Chicago. One of six men exonerated based on Guevara misconduct. - Harris County [facility]: Texas county that was the site of the largest documented mass false conviction scandal from field drug tests; 298 wrongful convictions identified between 2004-2015 (aka: Harris County, Texas, Houston/Harris County) - Harry Rodriguez [person]: Exonerated posthumously in 2025 in Illinois after wrongful conviction tied to Guevara misconduct. Died in prison before exoneration. - Hercules Brown [person]: Person whose DNA matched evidence (ski mask) in the Donna Brown murder case, for which Devonia Inman was wrongfully convicted. - Houston Police Department [organization]: Texas police department responsible for 212 of 298 wrongful drug convictions in Harris County; ceased field drug testing entirely in 2017 (aka: Houston PD, HPD) - Immigration and Customs Enforcement [organization]: Federal agency receiving foreign national offenders for deportation through the ICE Rapid REPAT program. (aka: ICE) - Innocence Project [organization]: National organization working to free innocent people through DNA testing and reform the criminal justice system. Distinct from the Georgia Innocence Project. - Jeffrey Gutman [person]: Professor at George Washington University Law School and Special Contributor to the National Registry of Exonerations. Studies compensation for exonerees and has identified dozens of compensated but unknown exoneration cases. - Joey Watkins [person]: Exonerated after over 22 years of wrongful imprisonment. - Johnny Gates [person]: Sentenced to death in 1977 as a 21-year-old Black man for the murder of a 19-year-old white female. Over 43 years in prison. One of the longest-serving wrongful conviction cases in Georgia history. - Katie Dempsey [person]: Republican state representative who co-sponsored the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act. (aka: Rep. Katie Dempsey) - Kristina Cook Graham [person]: Judge who granted Devonia Inman a new trial in November 2021. (aka: Judge Kristina Cook Graham) - Lee Clark [person]: Exonerated in 2022 after 25 years for a crime that never happened. Released from Floyd County Jail on December 8, 2022. - Lowell Higgins-Bey [person]: Exonerated in 2025 in Illinois after wrongful conviction tied to Guevara misconduct. - Mario Stinchcomb [person]: Convicted of murder in 2002 in Atlanta's Pittsburgh neighborhood. Exonerated in 2021 when Fulton County CIU determined he had acted in self-defense. 18+ years wrongfully imprisoned. - Michael McCastle [person]: Exonerated in 2025 in Illinois after wrongful conviction tied to Guevara misconduct. - Michael Woolfolk [person]: Co-defendant with Stinchcomb, also exonerated in 2021 through the Fulton County CIU. - Minnesota Board of Pardons [organization]: Granted Sherman Townsend a full pardon on July 9, 2025. - Mother Jones [organization]: Magazine that published a March/April 2025 article about Taylor Cadle's wrongful conviction, which led the Registry to add her case. - National Registry of Exonerations [organization]: National database documenting exonerations in the United States. Its published cumulative total is 3,792 exonerations since 1989 as of 6 April 2026, the date of its 2025 Annual Report (3,767 of them occurring 1989 through the end of 2025); the Registry's live case-level database listed 3,862 post-1989 exonerations when checked on 19 September 2026, plus 474 pre-1989 cases as reported in April 2026 (478 in the live database). The Registry calls its totals a basement figure and states that the interactive database, not the annual report, carries the most current statistics. (Was "over 3,646 exonerations as of 2024" until 2026-09-19.) (aka: NRE) - Office of State Administrative Hearings [organization]: Georgia state office whose administrative law judges hear claims under the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act. (aka: OSAH) - Patience Frazier [person]: Pled guilty to manslaughter in Humboldt County, Nevada, 2019, for allegedly inducing an abortion by taking drugs. Conviction vacated 2021; case dismissed April 2025 after four years pending. - Raymond Gaines [person]: Convicted in 1976 of robbery and murder in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts. Served nearly 45 years. Released on bond 2021; convictions vacated 2022; charges dismissed October 2025. - Reynaldo Guevara [person]: Former Chicago police detective whose misconduct—including using physical abuse to extract false confessions and coercing false witness identifications—has been tied to 55 exonerations since 2004. Eight of the 17 Illinois exonerations in 2025 involved Guevara. - Robert Cardona [person]: Brother of Gregorio Cardona; exonerated in 2025 in Illinois after wrongful conviction tied to Guevara misconduct. - Ronald Watts [person]: Chicago Police Sergeant who planted drugs and weapons on more than 200 people, leading to mass exonerations in Cook County, Illinois, primarily in 2022. - Scott Holcomb [person]: Democratic state representative who co-sponsored the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act. (aka: Rep. Scott Holcomb) - Sherman Townsend [person]: Convicted in 1998 of burglary in Minneapolis, Minnesota, based on false witness identification. Released in 2007 on time served; received full pardon from Minnesota Board of Pardons on July 9, 2025. - Sonny Bharadia [person]: Convicted in 2002 for a sexual assault in Savannah while he was hundreds of miles away. DNA proved innocence but Georgia Supreme Court ruled he 'took too long.' Released November 2024, fully exonerated May 2025. - Subramanyam Vedam [person]: Exonerated October 2, 2025 in Pennsylvania after more than 40 years in prison for a 1981 murder. Taken into ICE custody immediately upon release based on a 1988 detainer; deportation order vacated by Board of Immigration Appeals in February 2026. (aka: Subu Vedam) - Taylor Cadle [person]: Falsely convicted of reporting that she had been raped; exonerated in 2017. Her case was brought to the Registry's attention through a Mother Jones article in March/April 2025. - Terry Talley [person]: Wrongly convicted of violent sexual assaults in 1981 in LaGrange. Exonerated in 2021 after DNA evidence cleared him. Nearly 26 years wrongfully imprisoned. - U.S. Department of Justice [organization]: Federal agency that published October 2024 findings report on unconstitutional conditions in Georgia prisons. (aka: DOJ) - Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act [legislation]: Georgia law signed May 14, 2025 by Governor Kemp, establishing $75,000 per year of wrongful incarceration plus $25,000 per year on death row. Part of SB 244. (aka: SB 244 (compensation provision)) SOURCES (16) ---------------------------------------- - 11Alive investigation - Conviction Integrity Unit, 11Alive [journalism, secondary] URL: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/conviction-integrity-unit-fulton-county/85-33d75683-1d91-489e-828b-7abfb22a1287 - Adel News Tribune - compensation article, Adel News Tribune (2023-04-06) [journalism, secondary] URL: https://www.adelnewstribune.com/2023/04/06/ga-senate-subcommittee-tables-compensation-for-devonia-inman/ - Bureau of Justice Assistance grant description for Chatham County CIU, Bureau of Justice Assistance [official_report, primary] URL: https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/awards/15pbja-21-gg-03601-wrng - Death Penalty Information Center - Devonia Inman exoneration, Death Penalty Information Center (2021-01-01) [journalism, secondary] URL: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/georgia-man-exonerated-23-years-after-wrongful-capital-murder-conviction - Estimating the Prevalence of Wrongful Convictions (Urban Institute / NIJ Grant No. 251115), Urban Institute / U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice by Walsh, Kelly; Hussemann, Jeanette; Flynn, Abigail; Yahner, Jennifer; Golian, Laura (2017-09-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/251115.pdf - GAgives fundraising profile, Georgia Innocence Project — attributes a 4-6% wrongful conviction estimate to the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, paper not named (UNVERIFIED), GAgives (Georgia Center for Nonprofits) — Georgia Innocence Project organization profile [press_release, secondary] URL: https://www.gagives.org/organization/Georgia-Innocence-Project - Georgia Innocence Project Timeline Stories, Georgia Innocence Project [press_release, primary] URL: https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/ctl-stories/timeline-stories/ - Georgia Innocence Project, Wrongful Conviction Day 2025, Georgia Innocence Project (2025-01-01) [press_release, primary] URL: https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/general/wrongful-conviction-day-2025/ - GPS: The Death of Habeas Corpus Is Killing Innocent People, Georgia Prisoners' Speak (2026-01-30) [gps_original, primary] URL: https://gps.press/the-death-of-habeas-corpus-is-killing-innocent-people/ - Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health - Calvin Johnson story, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health [journalism, secondary] URL: https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/a-matter-of-conviction/ - Innocence Project data, Innocence Project [data_portal, primary] URL: https://innocenceproject.org/exonerations-data/ - Loeffler, Hyatt & Ridgeway, "Measuring Self-Reported Wrongful Convictions Among Prisoners," Journal of Quantitative Criminology 35(2):259-286 (2019), Journal of Quantitative Criminology by Loeffler, Charles E.; Hyatt, Jordan; Ridgeway, Greg (2019-06-01) [academic, primary] URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-018-9381-1 - Mother Jones magazine March/April 2025 issue, Mother Jones (2025-01-01) [journalism, secondary] - National Registry of Exonerations — 2025 Annual Report, The National Registry of Exonerations by The National Registry of Exonerations (2026-04-06) [official_report, primary] URL: https://exonerationregistry.org/sites/exonerationregistry.org/files/documents/2025Exonerations.pdf - National Registry of Exonerations — interactive exonerations database (national map / detailed view), National Registry of Exonerations by National Registry of Exonerations (UC Irvine Newkirk Center, University of Michigan Law School, Michigan State University College of Law) [data_portal, primary] URL: https://exonerationregistry.org/Exonerations-in-the-United-States-Map - National Registry of Exonerations 2024 Annual Report, National Registry of Exonerations (2024-01-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://exonerationregistry.org/sites/exonerationregistry.org/files/documents/2024_Annual_Report.pdf