Conviction review
Convictions that were overturned, and innocence claims courts are ruling on this week. Read what the evidence was and where it broke.
Tommy Lee Walker
Tommy Lee Walker was an African-American man who was wrongfully convicted and executed by the state of Texas for the 1953 rape and murder of Venice Parker, a 31-year-old white woman from Dallas. Walker's conviction heavily relied upon a dubious confession he made to police under duress, which he later recanted. In January, 2026, nearly 70 years after his execution, Dallas County unanimously passed a resolution…
1999 · TexasOverturned
1999 Tulia drug arrests
A total of 47 individuals, the majority of whom were African American, were arrested in 1999 in Tulia, Texas on charges of cocaine dealing as a result of an undercover operation carried out by agent Tom Coleman. Coleman's testimony was crucial in the convictions of 38 of the 47. Years later, 35 of the 38 incarcerated were pardoned by Texas governor Rick Perry.
1987 · TexasOverturned
Michael Morton
Michael Wayne Morton (born August 12, 1954) is an American who was wrongfully convicted in 1987 in a Williamson County, Texas court of the 1986 murder of his wife Christine Morton. He spent nearly 25 years in prison before he was exonerated by DNA evidence which supported his claim of innocence and pointed to the crime being committed by another individual. Morton was released from prison on October 4, 2011, and…
2013 · TexasOverturnedOak Hill satanic ritual abuse trial
The Oak Hill satanic ritual abuse trial occurred in Oak Hill, Austin, Texas, in 1991 when Fran Keller and her husband Dan, proprietors of a small day care, were accused of repeatedly and sadistically abusing several children. The Kellers were convicted of multiple charges and sentenced to 48 years in prison, but were freed in 2013 based on newly revealed information about misconduct by the prosecution and other…
1985 · TexasOverturnedTim Cole
Timothy Brian Cole (July 1, 1960 – December 2, 1999) was an American military veteran and a Texas Tech University student wrongfully convicted of raping a fellow student in 1985. Cole attended two years of college followed by two years of service in the U.S. Army. After his Army service, he returned to college at Texas Tech in Lubbock.
1975 · TexasOverturnedRobert Elmer Kleason
Robert Elmer Kleasen (September 20, 1934 – April 21, 2003) was an American who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1975 for the murder of two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, near Austin, Texas. The murders have popularly, albeit inaccurately, been cited as an inspiration for the horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Kleasen's conviction was later overturned and Kleasen…
2010 · TexasOverturned
Tom DeLay campaign finance trial
Tom DeLay, a Republican U.S. Representative from Texas from 1979–83, and from 1985–2006 and the House Majority Leader from 2003–05, was convicted in 2010 of money laundering and conspiracy charges related to illegal campaign finance activities aimed at helping Republican candidates for Texas state office in the 2002 elections. In 2013, a Texas Court of Appeals panel acquitted DeLay when it overturned his conviction.…
1977 · TexasOverturnedKerry Max Cook
Kerry Max Cook (born 1956) is an American former death row inmate who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Linda Jo Edwards in 1977. On June 19, 2024, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals determined that he was actually innocent, citing a litany of prosecutorial misconduct and errors.
1987 · TexasOverturnedErnest Willis
Ernest Ray Willis (August 17, 1945 – January 7, 2021) was an American man who spent 17 years on death row for an alleged double murder by arson before being exonerated in 2004. Convicted of murder after two women died in a fire in the West Texas home where he was living at the time, Willis was sentenced to death in 1987. In 1991, another death row inmate, David Martin Long, confessed to starting the fire.
1981 · TexasOverturnedClarence Brandley
Clarence Lee Brandley (September 24, 1951 – September 2, 2018) was an American man who was wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of Cheryl Dee Fergeson in 1981 and sentenced to death. Brandley was working as a janitor supervisor at Conroe High School in Conroe, Texas when the 16-year-old student Fergeson was a visiting athlete from Bellville, Texas. Brandley was held for nine years on death row.
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.
1980 · TexasOverturnedCornelius Dupree
Cornelius Dupree Jr. (born September 22, 1959) is an American man who was declared innocent of a 1980 conviction for aggravated robbery, which was alleged to have been committed during a rape in 1979. He was paroled in July 2010 after serving 30 years of a 75-year prison sentence in Texas.
1999 · TexasOverturnedMichael Roy Toney
Michael Roy Toney (December 29, 1965 – October 3, 2009) was charged and wrongfully convicted in 1999 for a bombing that killed three people and injured two others in Lake Worth, Texas, in 1985. Toney was sentenced to death and spent ten years on death row. On December 17, 2008, Toney's conviction was vacated by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals because of prosecutorial misconduct.
2007 · TexasInnocence Project caseMelissa Lucio
Melissa Lucio was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for the accidental death of her daughter.
2011 · TexasExonerated 2011Cornelius Dupree
Cornelius Dupree was exonerated on April 4, 2011, after spending more than 30 years in prison for a rape and robbery he didn’t commit.
2002 · TexasInnocence Project caseRobert Roberson
Robert Roberson faces execution on Oct. 16, 2025 for a crime he did not commit. Read key facts about the case and act to stop this injustice.
2006 · TexasExonerated 2006James Waller
In 1983, James Waller was wrongly convicted of an aggravated sexual assault he did not commit in Texas. He was later exonerated in 2006.
2004 · TexasExonerated 2004Josiah Sutton
In 2004, Josiah Sutton was pardoned of a 1998 sexual assault in Houston, Texas. He had been 16 years old when he was wrongfully arrested.
Year unknown · TexasInnocence Project caseTommy Lee Walker
In January 2026, the Dallas County Commissioners Court declared Tommy Lee Walker innocent of a 1953 rape and murder for which he was wrongly executed.
2005 · TexasExonerated 2005Brandon Moon
In 1988, Brandon Moon was wrongly convicted of three counts of aggravated sexual assault in Texas. He was later exonerated in 2005.
Year unknown · TexasInnocence Project caseCarmen Mejia
In March 2026, Carmen Mejia was exonerated more than 22 years after she was arrested and convicted of murder in Austin, Texas.
2000 · TexasExonerated 2000Carlos Lavernia
In 2000, Carlos Lavernia was exonerated of a 1983 rape in Austin, Texas, after DNA testing excluded him as the source of the evidence.
2000 · TexasExonerated 2000Roy Criner
In 1990, Roy Criner was wrongly convicted of a sexual assault he did not commit based on misapplied forensic science.
2007 · TexasExonerated 2007James Curtis Giles
In 1983, James Curtis Giles was wrongfully convicted of a rape in Dallas, Texas. DNA testing finally led to his exoneration in 2007.