Conviction review
Convictions that were overturned, and innocence claims courts are ruling on this week. Read what the evidence was and where it broke.
People v. Medera
Appellate Court of Illinois issued an opinion on November 12, 2026 that deals with an innocence claim. From the opinion: “…his or her conviction based on a claim of actual innocence or where there was a substantial denial of…”
2026 · Supreme Court of ArkansasIn courtRoosevelt Abernathy v. Dexter Payne, Director, Arkansas Division of Correction
Supreme Court of Arkansas issued an opinion on November 12, 2026 that deals with an innocence claim. From the opinion: “…A petitioner who does not allege actual innocence pursuant to Act 1780 of 2001 must plead either…”
1998 · North CarolinaOverturnedAlan Gell
James Alan Gell (born June 30, 1974, in North Carolina) is an American who was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder in 1998 and sentenced to death in Bertie County, North Carolina, at the age of 22. He served nine years as an inmate on death row before being acquitted in a second trial in 2004; he was freed from prison and exonerated that year. He was the 113th person to be freed from death row in the United…
1992 · IllinoisOverturned
Wrongful conviction of Juan Rivera
Juan A. Rivera Jr. (born October 31, 1972) is an American man who was wrongfully convicted three times for the 1992 rape and murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker in Waukegan, Illinois. He was convicted twice on the basis of a confession that he said was coerced.
1975 · OhioOverturnedRicky Jackson and Ronnie and Wiley Bridgeman
Ricky Jackson (born 1957), Ronnie Bridgeman (born 1957) and Wiley Bridgeman (September 21, 1954 – June 27, 2021) are three African Americans who were wrongfully convicted of murder as young men in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975 and sentenced to death. Jackson's sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1977, while the sentences of Bridgemans were commuted to life imprisonment in 1978. They were imprisoned for…
1948 · New YorkOverturnedBetty Tyson
Betty Tyson (née Dove) (June 29, 1948 – August 17, 2023) was a black woman known for her wrongful conviction in the murder of 52-year-old businessman Timothy Haworth in 1973 in Rochester, New York. Tyson, who was 24 at the time of her arrest, spent 25 years in prison, becoming New York State's longest-serving female inmate until her release on May 28, 1998. Her case prompted allegations of police misconduct, coerced…
1995 · North CarolinaOverturnedDontae Sharpe
Dontae Sharpe (born 1975) is an African American from North Carolina who was wrongly convicted of murdering a white man and spent 26 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He was exonerated and released from prison in 2019, and given a full pardon in 2021. Sharpe was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1995 for the murder of George Radcliffe.
1965Overturned
Muhammad Abdul Aziz
Muhammad Abdul Aziz (Arabic: محمد عبد العزيز; formerly known as Norman 3X Butler; born 1938) is an American man who was convicted, and later exonerated, for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X — a conviction that was overturned in November 2021, decades after he was paroled in 1985. Aziz maintained his innocence; and Mujahid Abdul Halim, who confessed to the murder, insisted that Aziz and Khalil Islam, another man…
2006OverturnedThe Innocence Project
The Innocence Project is an eight-part television drama series created by BBC Northern Ireland and first broadcast on BBC One on 9 November 2006. The series follows the work of Professor Jon Ford (Lloyd Owen), who sets up The Innocence Project, peopled entirely by a hand-picked group of law students. They take on cases pro bono that no one else will handle, or those that have been forgotten or given up on, working…
2026 · Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitIn courtMaleek Jones v. Sharonda Carlos
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion on November 10, 2026 that deals with an innocence claim. From the opinion: “…12 With respect to Jones’s claim of actual innocence, that claim largely turned on new testimony…”
2026 · Appellate Court of IllinoisIn courtPeople v. Lehnert
Appellate Court of Illinois issued an opinion on November 10, 2026 that deals with an innocence claim. From the opinion: “…plea claim but reverse the dismissal of his actual innocence claim and remand for further proceedings.…”
2026 · United States Court of Federal ClaimsIn courtANDERSON v. United States
United States Court of Federal Claims issued an opinion on November 9, 2026 that deals with an innocence claim. From the opinion: “…(“Anderson IV”). A state-court petition claiming actual innocence is currently pending. See Pls.’ Opp’n Ex.…”
Year unknown · MississippiOverturnedSabrina Butler
Sabrina Butler (born 1971) is a Mississippi woman and former death row inmate who was acquitted at a retrial after being convicted as a teenager for the alleged murder and child abuse of her nine-month-old son, Walter Dean Butler.
1990 · MissouriOverturnedMark Woodworth
Mark Woodworth is an American man from Livingston County, Missouri, who was convicted twice for a 1990 home invasion murder of his family's farming partners, the Robertsons., which occurred when he was 16 years old. Woodworth spent twenty years in prison for the crime he did not do, but was finally freed and exonerated, after the ballistic evidence used against him was ruled to be tainted and was barred from being…
2006 · TennesseeOverturnedAdam Braseel
Adam Clyde Braseel (born April 5, 1983) is an American former UPS worker who spent 12 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of a 2006 home invasion and murder in Grundy County, Tennessee. In December 2021, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee fully exonerated Braseel by executive clemency. His case has been featured in popular podcasts such as This is Criminal, Generation Why, and news shows such as Ferrier Files.
1994OverturnedJabbar Collins
Jabbar Collins (born July 8, 1972) is an American man who served 16 years for a crime he did not commit. He was convicted of second-degree murder following the February 1994 death of Orthodox rabbi Abraham Pollack in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The 20-year-old Collins, who lived in a nearby housing project, was arrested and charged with the murder.
2015 · MississippiOverturnedWillie Jerome Manning
Willie Jerome "Fly" Manning (born June 12, 1968) is on death row at Mississippi State Penitentiary, USA, with two death sentences for a conviction of double murder (Steckler-Miller murders). He was previously also convicted and sentenced to death for an unrelated double murder (Jimmerson-Jordan murders), but the State Supreme Court overturned this verdict and ordered a new trial. The charges against him for the…
1977 · LouisianaOverturnedVincent Simmons
Vincent Alfred Simmons (born February 17, 1952) is an American man who was wrongly imprisoned at Angola State Prison in Louisiana, where he was sentenced to 100 years in July 1977 after being convicted of the "attempted aggravated rapes" of 14-year-old twin sisters Karen and Sharon Sanders of Marksville. Simmons has maintained his innocence throughout. By 1999 Simmons had filed numerous habeas corpus writs, but had…
1932OverturnedMajczek and Marcinkiewicz
Joseph Majczek and Theodore Marcinkiewicz were two Polish-American men arrested and convicted of the murder of 57-year-old Chicago police officer William D. Lundy on December 9, 1932. Initially, officials held 10 youths in custody on suspicion of killing the officer. Some 11½ years later in 1944, following the intervention of Chicago Times reporters John McPhaul and James McGuire, both men were exonerated of the…
1979 · TexasOverturnedAnthony Massingill
Anthony Massingill is an American who was convicted in a Dallas, Texas court of a 1979 rape and robbery for which recent DNA test results support his claim of innocence. He was jointly convicted in the case along with Cornelius Dupree who was on January 4, 2011, fully exonerated of the charges. Massingill is being represented by the Texas Wesleyan Innocence Project and is likely to be cleared at a later hearing.
Year unknown · West VirginiaOverturnedGlen Woodall
Glen Dale Woodall was a victim of a miscarriage of justice in West Virginia. He was an itinerant gravedigger and handyman, who was sent to prison for a crime that DNA evidence has subsequently cleared him of. Samples of his blood were sent to the state crime lab and were matched to two sexual assaults at the Huntington Mall by state crime lab serology expert Fred Zain.
1983OverturnedWillie Earl Green
Willie Earl Green was sent to prison in 1983 for the murder of a woman in a South Los Angeles crack house, but after a change in testimony, authorities released him from prison in March 2008. The incriminating witness, Willie Finley, had placed Green at the scene and helped police identify him as the murderer. Mr.
Year unknownOverturnedArthur Paul Carmona
Arthur Paul Carmona (February 5, 1982 – February 17, 2008) served more than two years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of two armed robberies on the basis of eyewitness testimony. His case took on prominence in the ongoing debate in the legal community over the reliability of eyewitness identification. After his release, he had become an activist for the wrongfully accused.
2006 · ConnecticutOverturnedJames Calvin Tillman
James Calvin Tillman (born 1961) is a man who was wrongfully convicted of rape, and served 18.5 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA testing on July 11, 2006. Tillman, of East Hartford Connecticut, was convicted of kidnapping in the first degree, sexual assault in the first degree, robbery and assault in the third degree in 1989, and freed in 2007.