List of miscarriage of justice cases

This is a list of miscarriage of justice cases. This list includes cases where a convicted individual was later cleared of the crime and has received either an official exoneration, or a consensus exists that the individual was unjustly punished or where a conviction has been quashed and no retrial has taken place, so that the accused is assumed innocent. This list is not exhaustive. Crime descriptions with an asterisk indicate that the events were later determined not to be criminal acts.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

List of cases

Argentina

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
25 January 2005 Fernando Carrera Aggravated manslaughter and robbery Buenos Aires 30 years 6 years Yes Fernando Carrera was wrongly suspected by police of carrying out a robbery in January 2005. He was stopped by police while driving, and as the officers failed to identify themselves as police, he panicked and tried to escape. The police then shot at his car as he escaped, and he was hit eight times. While unconscious, his car continued driving for 200 meters, and fatally ran down two women and a child. Carrera was taken to hospital in serious condition and survived. He was subsequently put on trial, and in June 2007 was convicted of robbery and aggravated manslaughter. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, which was subsequently reduced to 15 years. Irregularities were found in his case. He was released on court order in 2013, though without being declared innocent. The Supreme Court of Argentina officially exonerated him in October 2016.[1]

Armenia

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
8 October 1998 Poghosyan Rape and murder Saratovka, Armenia 15 years in prison 5 years, 6 months Yes Poghosyan was arrested in 1998 on suspicion of rape and murder. He and his brother were subjected to physical violence by the police (beating, punching, kicking, blows to the ears causing a broken eardrum, forced to sit on a bottle) to force a confession from Poghosyan. The Lori Regional Court convicted Poghosyan of rape and murder in 1999. In 2003 following another offense, the real culprit was found, it became clear that the evidence against Poghosyan had been fabricated by the police and Poghosyan was freed. Two police officers were convicted of ill-treating the prisoners and fabricating evidence.[2][3]

Australia

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
December 30, 1921 Colin Campbell Ross Rape and murder by strangulation of Alma Tirtschke Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia Execution Executed Yes, posthumously exonerated Twelve-year-old Nell Alma Tirtschke left home on an errand for her grandmother. Early the next morning, her body was found in Gun Alley. She had been raped and strangled. Ross was convicted on the basis of several witnesses who testified that Ross confessed to them as well several strands of blonde hair on a blanket at Ross's house. In 1993, a former school teacher named Kevin Morgan began researching Ross's case. Morgan found a file in the Office of Public Prosecutions containing the original hair samples, which had been thought lost. In 1998, two independent scientific authorities - the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and the forensics division of the Australian Federal Police - found that the two lots of hair did not come from the same person, thereby disproving with certainty the most damning piece of evidence presented at Colin Ross's trial. Colin Ross was pardoned on May 27, 2008, 86 years after his execution.[4][5]
December 20, 1959 Darryl Beamish Murder of 22-year-old socialite Jillian MacPherson Brewer Perth, Australia Death 15 years Yes Brewer was the great-granddaughter of industrialist and philanthropist Sir Macpherson Robertson and was heir to MacRobertson's chocolates. Brewer was killed by an intruder with a tomahawk and scissors in her beachside apartment. Beamish, who is deaf and mute, lived near Brewer. He signed a confession, which he claimed he signed under duress. It was later determined that Brewer's murder was likely committed by Perth serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke, who confessed to the murder prior to his execution. Another man, John Button, was also convicted of murders assumed to be committed by Eric Edgar Cooke.[6]
February 9, 1963 John Button Murder of his 17-year-old girlfriend Rosemary Anderson Fremantle, Western Australia 10 years 5 years Yes Nineteen-year-old Button and his girlfriend Rosemary Anderson were celebrating his birthday at his parents' house. After an argument, Anderson decided to walk home. Button followed her in his car but she refused to get in and continued walking. Button stopped to smoke a cigarette before driving on. He found her lying injured and unconscious on the side of the road. She died later at the hospital.[7]:p 42 Button had a bad stutter and police interpreted this as being nervous due to the questions he was being asked. Button was refused access to his parents or a lawyer and was hit once by an interviewing police officer,[7]:p 49 before finally confessing to killing Anderson after 22 hours of interrogation. Damage to Button's car was also introduced at trial. He was charged with wilful murder and served 5 years in prison.

In 1963, Perth serial killer, Eric Edgar Cooke, confessed to the murder of Anderson when arrested in 1963 and again before he was executed. At his appeal, Trevor Condron, the police officer who had examined John Button's car in 1963 told the appeals court that while the car was damaged, the damage was not consistent with hitting a person and that three weeks before Anderson's death, Button had reported to police another accident. This accident report had been known to police at the original trial but been discounted as irrelevant. The court also heard from Dr Neil Turner who had treated Anderson. He claimed that her injuries were not consistent with Button's vehicle. The world's leading pedestrian accident expert, American William "Rusty" Haight, was flown to Australia and testified that experiments with a biomedical human-form dummy, a similar Simca to Button's and an EJ Holden similar to the one Cooke claimed he was driving when he hit Anderson, matched exactly Cooke's account and excluded the Simca.[8][9] On 25 February 2002, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed Button's conviction.[10][11]

Button now spearheads the Western Australian Innocence Project which aims to free the wrongfully convicted.[12]

September 14, 1964 Alexander McLeod-Lindsay Attempted murder of his wife, Pamela Parsons Sylvania, New South Wales. 18 years 9 years Yes McLeod-Lindsay returned from work to find his wife Pamela and son Bruce severely beaten. Police developed the theory that he had slipped away from the hotel, attacked his family and returned to work, unnoticed. Blood on McLeod-Lindsay’s jacket was said to have been “impact splatter”, and deposited during the attack.[13]

Both victims survived the attack. Pamela McLeod-Lindsay was adamant that her husband had not attacked her. She said that the attacker had had an Australian accent. McLeod-Lindsay’s accent was Scottish. McLeod-Lindsay was charged anyway with the attempted murder of his wife and son. The prosecution contended that Pamela McLeod-Lindsay was lying to protect the family’s income. McLeod-Lindsay was found guilty.

McLeod-Lindsay was exonerated after a further review by another blood spatter pattern expert determined that the pattern was likely caused by transfer when he cradled his wife rather than by blows.[14]

December 3, 1977 Edward Splatt Murder and sexual assault of 77-year-old Rosa Simper Cheltenham, South Australia Life imprisonment 7 years No Splatt spent 7 years in jail for the murder of Rosa Simper but a Royal Commission led to a pardon and compensation of $300,000 in 1984. The commission found that forensic evidence was unreliable and that some contamination of the crime scene had possibly occurred.[15]
June 4, 1979 David Szach Murder of 44-year-old partner Derrance Stevenson Parkside, South Australia Life imprisonment 14 years No [16]
August 17, 1980 Lindy Chamberlain Murder of her daughter, Azaria* Uluru, Northern Territory of Australia Life imprisonment 3 years Yes Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton was convicted in 1982 for the murder of her 9-week-old daughter, Azaria, after claiming that the baby had been taken by a dingo. In 1986, a British tourist fell to his death in Uluru while hiking. During the search for his remains, Azaria's missing matinee jacket was discovered in an area full of dingo lairs.[17] The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory ordered Lindy Chamberlain's immediate release and the case was reopened. On 15 September 1988, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously overturned all convictions against Lindy and her husband, Michael Chamberlain, who had been convicted of accessory after the fact.[18][19][20][21]
June 22, 1982 Ray, Peter and Brian Mickelberg Robbery (the Perth Mint Swindle) Perth, Western Australia 20,16, and 12 years in prison, respectively. Varied Yes Ray, Peter, and Brian Mickelberg were convicted in 1983 of the Perth Mint Swindle. In 2002, Tony Lewandowski came forward and admitted the police had framed the brothers. In July 2004 their convictions were quashed and as part of a libel settlement, the West Australian police issued a public apology in December 2007. They were given A$500,000 each and $658,672 to cover legal fees.[22][23]
1984 Kevin Condren Murder Goodna, Queensland Life imprisonment Six years Yes Condren was an aboriginal Australian who was convicted on the basis of his alleged confession which he said was based on Police coercion and fabrication. Three new witnesses who did not testify at his trial came forward. Based on their testimony and serious doubts about the validity of Condren's confession, the Court of Appeal reversed his conviction in 1990. He was awarded A$400,000 in 1991.[24]
September 1991 Graham Stafford Murder of Leanne Sarah Holland Queensland Life imprisonment 14 years Yes The conviction of Stafford was based on forensic evidence that was undermined in subsequent appeals, including an unprecedented third appeal.[25] The Court of Appeal held he had been denied a fair trial and ordered a retrial,[26] however the Director of Public Prosecutions subsequently decided a new trial would not be in the public interest.[25]
March 18, 1994 Henry Keogh Murder of his fiancée, Anna-Jane Cheney Magill, South Australia 26 years 21 years No The evidence used in Keogh's trial was scanty and obscure, and it was later revealed that police withheld vital information from his defence team. His conviction was quashed,[27] and while a retrial was initially pursued,[28] it was subsequently abandoned. The police uncovered evidence pointing to convicted murderer Simon Rochford but Rochford committed suicide in his prison cell in 2006.
May 23, 1994 Andrew Mallard Murder of Pamela Lawrence Perth, Western Australia 11 years Yes Andrew Mallard was convicted for the murder of jeweler Pamela Lawrence in 1994 after eight unrecorded hours of police interrogation and a brief recorded "confession" that followed. In 2005, the High Court of Australia was advised that the prosecution and/or police had withheld evidence which showed his innocence, and overturned his conviction.[29] As such, Mallard was released from prison. A "cold case" review of the murder conducted after Mallard's release implicated one Simon Rochford as the actual offender and Mallard was exonerated.

Canada

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
September 1990 James Driskell Murder of Perry Harder Winnipeg, Manitoba Life in prison 12 years No Harder was murdered by being shot several times in the chest and buried in a shallow grave near some railroad tracks. Police suspected Driskell of the murders because Harder implicated Driskell in a series of break-ins. The prosecution presented three hairs from Driskell's van that they argued belonged to Harder. A later review by the Forensic Science Services in England determined that none of the hairs belonged to Harder. It was later discovered that a key police witness, Ray Zanidean, tried to recant his testimony. In exchange for his testimony, police made a deal with Zanidean that he would not be charged in an arson case. He also received payment for his legal fees and received money for mortgage payments that were in arrears. He also received $20,000 payment. This information was not disclosed to the jury. Although he has not been formally exonerated, he was released on Nov. 24, 2003.[30]
June 19, 1990 Robert Baltovich Murder of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Bain Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. Life 11 years Yes Robert Baltovich was convicted in 1992 of the murder of Elizabeth Bain; released in 2000 to prepare an appeal based on new evidence. The Court of Appeal for Ontario ordered a new trial, which began in March 2008. At the outset of the trial, the Crown declined to call any evidence, and the judge ordered the jury to bring a verdict of not guilty. Circumstantial evidence pointed to the serial killer Paul Bernardo, an acquaintance of Ms Bain's, as the murderer. The Ontario Attorney-General denied financial compensation to Baltovich in 2010.
May 28, 1971 Donald Marshall, Jr. Murder of Sandy Seale Sydney, Nova Scotia Life imprisonment 11 years Yes Donald Marshall and Sandy Seale, then both 17 years old, had been walking around Wentworth Park in Sydney, Nova Scotia during the late evening with the intent to "roll a drunk" as stated at Marshall's trial. They confronted an older man they encountered in the park named Roy Ebsary. Seale was stabbed to death. Police speculated that Marshall had murdered Seale and he was convicted on the basis of witness statements.[31][32] Several years later, a witness came forward to say he had seen another man stab Seale, and several prior witness statements pinpointing Marshall were recanted. A year after the appeal, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal declared him not guilty of the murder. In its ruling, however, the court opined that Marshall was “the author of his own misfortune”, essentially blaming him for the conviction.[33][34][35][36]

A 1990 royal commission of inquiry criticized that finding as “a serious and fundamental error", blaming police incompetence and “systemic racism” for the conviction (Marshall is Mi’kmaq). His case led to widespread changes in Canada's evidence disclosure rules. Prosecutors had withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense in the Marshall case; the prosecution must now fully disclose to the defense any evidence it has in its possession. Ebsary was subsequently tried and convicted of manslaughter.[31]

January 31, 1969 David Milgaard Murder of 20-year-old nursing student, Gail Miller Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Life in Prison 23 years Yes In 1969, 16-year-old David Milgaard was convicted and given a life sentence for the murder of 20-year-old nursing aide Gail Miller. After 23 years of imprisonment, the Supreme Court of Canada allowed for the release of Milgaard. In 1997 Milgaard, received an apology from the Saskatchewan government after DNA tests in the U.K. excluded him.[37]
October 3, 1984 Guy Paul Morin Rape and murder of his 9 year old neighbour, Christine Jessop Queensville, Ontario Life in prison 3 years Yes On 3 October 1984, Jessop disappeared after being dropped off by the school bus at her home.[38] Her body was discovered on December 31, nearly three months later. She had been sexually assaulted and murdered.[39] Morin was arrested for Jessop's murder in April 1985 and was acquitted.[39][40] The Crown exercised its right to appeal the verdict on the grounds that the trial judge made a fundamental error prejudicing the Crown's right to a fair trial.[41] In 1987 the Court of Appeal ordered a new trial.[42] In 1992, Morin was convicted at his second trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment.[43] Improvements in DNA testing led to a test in 1995 which excluded Morin as the murderer.[44] Morin's appeal of his conviction was allowed (i.e., the conviction was reversed), and a directed verdict of acquittal entered in the appeal.[42]

An inquiry culminating in the Kaufman Report into Morin's case also uncovered evidence of police and prosecutorial misconduct, and of misrepresentation of forensic evidence by the Ontario Centre of Forensic Sciences.[42][45] Christine Jessop’s murderer is still unknown.

August 9, 1967 Romeo Phillion Murder of Leopold Roy Ottawa, Ontario Life in prison 31 years Yes Murder of veteran of fire department Leopold Roy[46] Phillion died in 2015 at the age of 76 before his $14 million lawsuit against the Ontario governmenthad been settled. The longest ever sentence served by a Canadian prisoner whose conviction was later overturned.
December 23, 1981 Thomas Sophonow Murder of 16-year-old Barbara Stoppel Stoppel was working at the Ideal Donut Shop in Winnipeg when she was found strangled in the restroom with a nylon cord. She died 5 days later. Witnesses gave police a description of a man wearing a cowboy hat enter the establishment, lock the door, and walk towards the back. Sophonow, who had a police record, bore a resemblance to the sketch. He was convicted on the basis of the eyewitness identification and a jailhouse informant who testified that Sophonow confessed to him. Sophonow was tried three times. The first ended in a mistrial, the second two in convictions. Both convictions were overturned and the court of appeal ordered an acquittal. The Winnipeg police service began a reinvestigation and in June 2000, they publicly announced that Sophonow was innocent and another suspect had been identified. In 2001, Justice Peter Cory concluded that police misconduct contributed to the wrongful conviction. The use of jailhouse informants and misuse and manipulation of eye witness accounts was criticized.[47]
June 9, 1959 Steven Truscott rape and murder of classmate Lynne Harper Vanastra, Ontario Death, then Life in Prison 10 years Yes Steven Truscott's wrongful conviction of murder in the death of Lynne Harper stood for 48 years before finally being overturned August 28, 2007.
October 9, 1993 Tammy Marquardt Murder of her son, Kenneth* Toronto, Ontario, Canada Life in prison. 14 Yes Tammy was home with her 2 ½ years old son Kenneth who was napping in their spare bedroom. When she checked on him, she found him tangled in the sheets and gasping for breath. Kenneth suffered irreparable brain damage and was taken off life support three days later. Dr. Charles Smith, who was considered to be the leading expert in Canada on criminally suspicious pediatric deaths, was consulted on the case. Smith concluded that Kenneth’s death was not accidental. Tammy's defense insisted her son died from complications of an epileptic seizure. She was convicted.

Smith's work subsequently came into question on a number of cases. On June 7, 2005, Chief Coroner for Ontario, Dr. Barry McLellan, announced that a formal review would be conducted of criminal cases for which Smith had performed the autopsy.

In October 2007, another forensic pathologist assigned to the case concluded that Smith’s finding of asphyxia was “illogical and completely against scientific evidence-based reasoning.” In 2011, the Ontario Court of Appeal quashed her conviction and the Crown withdrew the charges against Tammy. Experts hired by the prosecution agreed that Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) could not be ruled out as the cause of death in Kenneth’s case as well as other natural cases of death.[48][49]

December 14, 1961 Réjean Hinse Armed robbery of a general store Mont-Laurier, Quebec 15 years 8 years Yes Claimed he was 200 km away in Montreal at the time of the robbery. The Quebec Police Commission concluded in 1989 that Hinse was the victim of "a botched investigation." Acquitted by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1997 and paid C$13.1 million by the Quebec and Federal Governments - the largest wrongful conviction award in Canadian history.

China

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1987 Teng Xingshan Rape, robbery and murder Hunan, China Death sentence Executed Yes Teng Xingshan, a butcher, was convicted (the court was told "Teng confessed his crime on his initiative and his confession conforms with scientific inspection and identification") and executed in 1989 for the murder of Shi Xiaorong, a waitress who had disappeared. Shi reappeared in Shandong in 2005 and said she had never met Teng. Teng was posthumously acquitted in 2006.[50][51]
1995 Nie Shubin Rape and murder Zhang Ying village, Hubei province Death sentence Executed Yes Nie Shubin was convicted after the police had obtained a confession from him with a week of "...skillful interrogation, including psychological warfare..." and executed in 1995 for the rape and murder of Kang Juhua, a woman in her thirties. In 2005, Wang Shujin admitted to the police that he had committed the murder and described murder scene details only known to the police.[52][53]
1996 Huugjilt Rape and murder Inner Mongolia Death sentence Executed Yes A young Chinese national executed for the rape and murder of some young people. Unable to find the offender, the local police arrested Huugjilt instead, who was the first to discover and report the case, and obtained his testimony by torture.[54] He was declared innocent after the real culprit, Zhao Zhihong (赵志红), who was executed in 2015, admitted the crime. Huugjilt's family was compensated 2.05 million yuan (equivalent to 298,000 USD) by Inner Mongolia High People's Court.[55][56][57]
2001 Chen Keyun Bombing that killed one person Fuqing, China Death sentence (twice) 12 years Yes Chen (and five others) was arrested by the police after a bomb went off outside a government office that investigates officials for corruption as Chen had previously been investigated by the office. Chen was tortured by beating, starvation, dangling by his wrists from bars on a high window and deprivation of sleep and signed a forced confession. The others were also tortured. Chen was convicted and sentenced to death and the others got prison sentences. After several appeals in 2013 the Fuzhou provincial court acquitted Chen and the others and offered to pay 4.2 million Yuan (about $690,000).[58]

Finland

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
2006 Anneli Auer Murder Ulvila Life imprisonment 1.6 years Yes In December 2006, Jukka S. Lahti was murdered in what became known as the Ulvila murder case. His wife, Anneli Auer, was arrested for his murder in 2009. She was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to life imprisonment. An appeals court overturned her conviction. In 2012, the Supreme Court ordered the case retried after prosecutors presented new evidence. In December 2013, she was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for a second time. An appeals court again overturned the verdict. Prosecutors appealed the acquittal to the Supreme Court, which upheld the acquittal. She was granted €545,000 in compensation, and filed an unsuccessful claim for €2.5 million in compensation.[59][60]

France

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1431 Joan of Arc Heresy and cross dressing Rouen, France Death sentence, burning at stake Executed Yes, posthumously Joan of Arc was executed in 1431 on charges of heresy. She was posthumously cleared in 1456.
October 14, 1761 Jean Calas Murder of his son, Marc-Antoine Toulouse, France Death sentence, breaking wheel Executed Yes, posthumously Jean Calas from Toulouse was executed on March 10, 1762, for murder of his son Marc Antoine. The philosopher Voltaire, convinced of his innocence, succeeded in reopening of the case and rehabilitation of Jean in 1765.
1894 Alfred Dreyfus Treason Life imprisonment on Devil's Island in French Guiana Yes Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly convicted for treason in 1894. After being imprisoned on Devil's Island, he was proven innocent with the assistance of Émile Zola and definitively rehabilitated only in 1906. See the Dreyfus affair.
April 30, 1987 Patrick Dils Murder of two children, Cyril Beining and Alexandre Beckrich Montigny-lès-Metz, France Life imprisonment 15 years Yes Dils conviction was overturned and he was acquitted on retrial in 2002.
2001 17 persons Child abuse Imprisonment Yes In 2005, thirteen people were finally proven innocent of child molestation after having served four years in prison. A fourteenth died in prison. Only four people were proven guilty. This infamous case, which deeply shook public opinion, is known as the Affaire d'Outreau, the Outreau case, from the name of the city where the victims lived.
December 2001 Marc Machin Murder Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris Imprisonment 11 years Yes In 2001, 45 year old Marie-Agnès Bedot was murdered by stabbing. 19 year old Marc Machin was convicted of the murder based on circumstantial evidence and a forced confession. In 2008 David Sagno, a homeless man, admitted murdering Bedot and the police found Sagno's DNA on Bedot's clothes. Machin's conviction was quashed and he was cleared in 2012.[61]

Germany

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
October 13, 2001 Hermine Rupp, her two daughters, and her daughter's fiancé Murder of Rudolf Rupp, husband of Hermine Rupp Neuburg an der Donau (Bavaria, Germany) 8.5 years 5 years Rudolf Rupp disappeared on his way back from the local pub one night in October 2001. Local rumors spread that the Rupp family killed the unlikeable Rudy, who had a history of drinking excessively and fighting. Police had no evidence in the case, but eventually coerced confessions from the family that they had bludgeoned him, dismembered him, and fed him to the dogs. No physical evidence was found, but they were convicted based on confessions which even contradicted each other. In 2009, Rupp's body was found behind the wheel of his Mercedes in the Danube river in an apparent car accident. Though the corpse suffered by fish feeding on it, there was no evidence of a crime.[62]
August 28th, 2001 Horst Arnold case Rape Reichelsheim, Germany 5 years 5 years July 5th, 2011 Horst Arnold was a sports and biology teacher at the August Zinn comprehensive school in Reichelsheim. He was accused by a female colleague, Heidi K., of having raped her, and based on her testimony he was sentenced to five years of prison. Only after he was freed, an equal opportunity commissioner (who, at first, supported Heidi K. before and during the trial) noticed several contradictions in her stories. In prison, Arnold continued to deny the crime and refused therapy sessions, which was why he was denied early leave on parole. In the retrial, Arnold was exonerated, and in 2013, Heidi K. was sentenced to five years and six months.

Greece

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
399 BC Socrates Corrupting the youth of Athens and impiety Athens, Greece Death sentence, drinking poison hemlock No Modern interpretations state this his conviction and sentence were instead revenge for his affiliation with the dictatorial Thirty Tyrants.

Iceland

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1974 Sævar Ciesielski, Kristjan Vídar Vídarsson, Tryggvi Rúnar Leifsson, Albert Klahn Skaftason, Guðjón Skarphéðinsson and Erla Bolladóttir Murder of Guðmundur and Geirfinnur Hafnarfjörður and Keflavik, near Reykjavik Iceland Two life sentences; the other four got 15 months to 16 years (sentences reduced in 1980) All served their time in jail No Two men, Guðmundur and Geirfinnur, disappeared in January and November 1974. The Icelandic police were convinced that the six suspects were complicit in the murder of these two men although there were no bodies, witnesses or forensic evidence. The police subjected the suspects to intense and lengthy interrogations (including two that had over 600 days in solitary confinement, water torture, sleep deprivation and drugs).[63] Most Icelanders believed the six were innocent. the BBC described this as "...one of the most shocking miscarriages of justice Europe has ever witnessed.

Iran

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
2004 Atefah Sahaaleh Adultery and "crimes against chastity" Neka, Iran Death by hanging Executed Yes, posthumously Sahaaleh was convicted for "crimes against chastity" for being involved in a sexual relationship with a 51-year-old married man named Ali Darabi. Sahaaleh claimed she was raped by Darabi multiple times over the course of 3 years and then tortured into confessing. During her trial, she removed her hijab, an act seen as severe contempt of court, and argued that Darabi should be punished, not her. The judge sentenced her to death. Darabi was sentenced to 95 lashes.[64]

Unbeknownst to her parents, documents presented to the Supreme Court of Appeal described her as 22 years old. Her birth certificate indicated her age was 16. Amnesty International and other organizations declared her execution to be a crime against humanity and against children of the world.[65]

Ireland

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1882 Maolra Seoighe (English: Myles Joyce) Murder Maamtrasna, Ireland Death Executed Yes Joyce was one of three people condemned to death for the murder of a local family in Ireland which was part of the United kingdom at the time. Joyce spoke no English, his lawyer spoke no Irish, perjured witnesses were bribed, evidence withheld and most scholars have regarded the verdict as a miscarriage of justice. In 2018 the President of Ireland issued a pardon and said “Maolra Seoighe was wrongly convicted of murder and was hanged for a crime that he did not commit.”[66]
8 January 1990 Nora Wall Rape Dublin Life Four days Yes Wall was convicted on the basis of false allegations by Regina Walsh (psychiatric history) and Patricia Phelan (history of false accusations). The first woman in the history of the Irish State to be convicted of rape, the first person to receive a life sentence for rape and the only person in the history of the state to be convicted on repressed memory evidence.
31 March 1976 Sallins Train Robbery four Mail train robbery Sallins, County Kildare Nine to 12 years Four Years Yes Osgur Breatnach, Nicky Kelly, Brian Mcnally, Michael Plunkett, John Fitzpatrick were arrested and beaten by the Garda Síochána to extract confessions under duress from four (Plunkett did not sign). The four were found guilty with no other evidence apart from the confessions. Breatnach and McNally were acquitted on appeal on the grounds that their statements had been taken under duress. Kelly was given a presidential pardon and received £750,000 in compensation..

Israel

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1948 Meir Tobianski Treason Death Executed Yes In June 1948, during the Israeli War of Independence, Meir Tobianski, a major in the Israeli army, was arrested on charges of spying for the Jordanians. The Chief Military Prosecutor's order to detain and interrogate Tobianski for 10 days was ignored; instead, he was subjected to a drumhead court-martial. He was found guilty on circumstantial evidence, sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad on June 30, 1948. Later, an investigation resulted in Tobianski's posthumous acquittal. Intelligence chief Isser Be'eri, who was largely responsible for Tobianski's execution, was later put on trial and found guilty of manslaughter.
1974 Amos Baranes Murder Life imprisonment 8.5 years Yes In January 1976, Amos Baranes was convicted for the 1974 murder of soldier Rachel Heller and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He had had approached the police and told them he had known the victim, intending to offer his help any way he could, but he then became a suspect and was arrested. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. His conviction was based solely on a confession and reenaction he provided to police which he later retracted, claiming that the police had extracted the confession out of him by physically abusing him and depriving him of sleep for four days. An appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court was rejected, although errors in the investigation were acknowledged. In 1980, Ezra Goldberg, a retired policeman concluded that Baranes was innocent. He gave the information to Judge Haim Cohn, one of the Supreme Court judges who had rejected his appeal. Cohn concluded that his judgement was wrong, and suggested Baranes to ask for a pardon. Baranes refused, claiming that such a request would be an admission of a crime he didn't commit. Cohn then asked President Chaim Herzog to grant Baranes a pardon. Baranes was finally released in June 1983 after receiving a presidential pardon. He had served 8.5 years of his sentence. Following his release, Baranes continued his struggle to clear his name. Three times his requests for a new trial were denied. In March 2002, Supreme Court Justice Dalia Dorner finally ruled that Baranes should get a new trial. Four weeks later, Judge Cohn died. His last phone conversation was with Justice Dorner; he called her from his sickbed and thanked her for fixing the injustice "that I did". Baranes was one of the people who carried Cohn's coffin at his funeral. In December 2002, the court acquitted Baranes - without hearing evidence and without deciding whether Baranes committed the crime after the prosecution decided not to have a trial. In 2003, Baranes was awarded NIS 1.4 million in compensation. On August 5, 2010, he was awarded a further NIS 5,029,000 in compensation. Amos Baranes died in September 2011. Rachel Heller's real killer was never caught.
Azat Naffso Treason and espionage 18 years imprisonment 7 years In 1980, Azat Naffso, a former military intelligence officer of Circassian origin, was arrested for espionage, after it was discovered that one of his contacts in Lebanon had been a double agent for Fatah. Naffso was interrogated and subjected to various forms of torture to extract a confession. After 14 days, Naffso confessed, and was tried before a military court in 1981, convicted, and sentenced to 18 years in prison. In 1987, he appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that his confession had been extracted illegally and that the prosecution had presented fabricated evidence. The Supreme Court judges cleared Naffso of most of the charges and sharply criticized Naffso's interrogators, accused them of perjury, and of not taking reasonable measures during his interrogation. A plea bargain was reached, under which Naffso agreed to plead guilty to exceeding authority creating a national security risk. Naffso's sentence was reduced to 2 years and a demotion to the rank of Sergeant, and as a result, he was released immediately. The Naffso affair was one of the reasons the Landau Commission, set up to investigate methods used by Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, was set up. Naffso subsequently filed a compensation claim against the state, and reached a compromise under which he would be given $1 million in compensation and pledge not to publicly reveal details of the case.
Arnoldo Lazorovsky Sodomy against a minor and committing an indecent act 6 years 6 years Yes In 2000, Arnoldo Lazorovsky was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor while working as a janitor at the Kfar Saba Country Club between 1991 and 1994, and was sentenced to six years in prison, after being accused by a young man several years after the alleged crimes occurred. Soon afterward, Gregory Schneider, who had worked at the same country club, was convicted of similar crimes after being accused by the same person, but the conviction was overturned upon appeal. As a result, Lazorovsky requested and was granted a retrial, but was convicted again, after which he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, which overturned the conviction.[67]
1998 Moshe Zagury Murder, arson, and robbery Life imprisonment 5 years Yes Moshe Zaguri was convicted of murdering money changer Ephraim Yass by the Haifa District Court in October 1998 after a state witness testified against him in exchange for having a narcotics charge dropped. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment and 3 years probation. An appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected, and the Supreme Court increased his sentence to life imprisonment. In 2004, the Supreme Court overturned his conviction.[68][69]
2002 Elisha Haibatov Murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime Life imprisonment 12 years Yes Elisha Haibatov was arrested in January 2006 for the 2002 murder of cashier Shai Edri in Sderot, who was killed in the course of a robbery. He was already serving a prison sentence for torching his own home and threatening his partner at the time. He was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2018, after he had served 12 years in prison, the Israeli Supreme Court overturned his convictions for murder, robbery, and conspiracy to commit a crime, but upheld his convictions for witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and violating a legal order. His sentence was reduced to 3 years, and as a result he was released immediately.[70][71]
2007 Hamed Zinati Murder Life imprisonment 4 years Yes In 2007, Hamed Zinati, a Druze land broker from Abu Snan, was arrested for the murder of Youssef Ali, who had been married to a woman who had had an affair with one of his business partners. He was convicted on the basis of a confession that the police had extracted from a third suspect. The Israeli Supreme Court overturned his conviction on appeal after he spent four years in prison. The Supreme Court sharply criticized his conviction, ruling that the court's reliance on a confession extracted under questionable circumstances was the blackest of moral stains on the Israeli justice system. He was awarded $100,000 in compensation.[72]

Italy

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
November 1, 2007 Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito Murder of Meredith Kercher Perugia, Italy 26 years imprisonment (Knox), 25 years imprisonment (Sollecito) 3 years Yes London-born Kercher was studying in Italy when she was found murdered in the home she shared with Knox. Knox, who was from Seattle, her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, and Ivorian-born Rudy Guede were charged with the murder. Forensic evidence, including DNA from feces at the scene and fingerprints linked Guede to the scene, but the cases against Knox and Sollecito were controversial. Knox and Kercher were acquainted with Guede, but Knox and Sollecito claim they were at Sollecito's house at the time of the murder. Prosecutors argued Kercher was killed as part of a sex game gone wrong.[73]

In 2015, the Supreme Court of Cassation overturned the previous guilty verdicts, definitively ending the case.[74][75][76][77] Rather than merely declaring that there were errors in the earlier court cases or that there was not enough evidence to convict, the court ruled that Knox and Sollecito had not committed the murder and were innocent of those charges.[76][78] According to Vedova, the decision by the five judges was almost unprecedented. Guede's conviction still stands.[77]

1976 Giuseppe Gulotta Two Carabinieri shot dead Alcamo Marina, Trapani, Italy Life 22 years Yes Convicted for the killing of two Carabinieri, released when another Carabiniere revealed that the confession had been obtained through torture.
1969 Pietro Valpreda Piazza Fontana bombing Pietro Valpreda, an anarchist condemned for the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing, was finally found innocent sixteen years later. He was framed since it was planned to blame the crime on the radical Left, while it was committed by Neo-Fascist groups as the first step of the strategy of tension.
Enzo Tortora Enzo Tortora, a popular anchorman on national RAI television, was arrested in 1983 and held in jail for months on trumped up charges by several pentiti of the Camorra and other people already known for perjury. It was soon noted that this was most likely an mis-identification due to confusion with a man bearing the same surname (meaning "turtledove"), but the pentiti kept on accusing Tortora of the gravest offenses related to drug dealing. He was sentenced to ten years in jail in his first trial held in 1985, being spared further incarceration only thanks to the providential intervention of the Radical Party who offered him a candidacy to the European Parliament, a place Tortora won in a landslide as the country became divided between those who held him guilty and those who held him innocent. He was completely acquitted and rehabilitated in 1986; he returned the next year to his work in TV, to a moving comeback in his "Portobello" show, to die in 1988 from cancer and become an icon of injustice and a perpetual reminder of the gravest public blunder of the Italian judiciary system.
Daniele Barillà Daniele Barillà, an entrepreneur mistakenly identified as a major drug cartel boss in Milan, spent more than 7 years in jail in 1992–1999, despite growing evidence of his complete innocence and non-involvement in any criminal activity. To this day, the Italian state hasn't awarded him any compensation.
Fabio Carlino Fabio Carlino was convicted of selling the dose of ultra-pure cocaine that killed cyclist Marco Pantani, and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. He was also ordered to pay a fine of £19,000, and another £300,000 in damages to Pantani's family. His conviction was overturned by the Italian Court of Cassation in 2011.[79]

Japan

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
December 30, 1948 Sakae Menda Double murder Japan Death 35 years Yes Sakae Menda was convicted for a double murder in 1948, after police extracted a confession by denying him food, water, and sleep, and subjecting him to physical abuse. He was sentenced to death, and spent 35 years on death row before being cleared in 1983, after further evidence backing up his alibi came to light.[80]
1997 Govinda Prasad Mainali Murder of a woman Tokyo, Japan Life 15 years Yes In 1997 a Japanese woman employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. was murdered in her apartment in Tokyo. Maimali, a Nepalese migrant worker, knew the woman and lived nearby. The Police arrested Maimali who was physically abused (beaten, kicked, head banged against the wall) by officers and was not allowed a lawyer. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. He appealed the conviction on the grounds that DNA evidence at the scene (semen, body hair, under the dead woman's fingernails) were not his and was acquitted in 2012.[81][82]
1990 Toshikazu Sugaya Four year old girl kidnapped and murdered (The Ashikaga murder case, part of the North Kanto Serial Young Girl Kidnapping and Murder Case) Kanto region, Japan Life 17 years Yes Sugaya was found guilty based on flawed DNA testing and a confession that he professes was beaten out of him by detective in charge of the case Fumio Hashimoto. Investigation by reporter Kiyoshi Shimizu into the North Kanto Serial Young Girl Kidnapping and Murder Case resulted in the Ashikaga case being found to be part of it, with Sugaya being innocent. It was later found that the prosecution had also suppressed evidence regarding the true culprit, including eyewitness accounts, because they did not match their version of events with Sugaya as the culprit.

Mexico

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
March 2006 Jacinta Francisco Marcial Kidnapping and ransom of Federal Investigations Agents Santiago Mexquititlán, Querétaro 21 years in prison 3 years In March 2006, six plainclothes agents of Mexico's Federal Investigations Agency (AFI) raided a market in Santiago Mexquititlán, Querétaro, in search of unauthorized copies of copyrighted works. During the raid, the six AFI agents were cornered by a number of unarmed vendors in protest. The agents later claimed that the vendors demanded a ransom to let them go. Local witnesses to the incident denied any ransom demand was made. Jacinta Francisco Marcial, an indigenous Otomí woman, sold ice cream in Santiago Mexquititlán's predominantly indigenous tianguis. The six AFI agents who conducted the raid implicated Francisco Marcial after they were shown a newspaper photograph depicting her walking near a group of protesting vendors. In August 2006, four months after the raid, she was arrested for the alleged kidnapping. She was later convicted and sentenced to twenty-one years imprisonment. Two other women were convicted as well.

Amnesty International denounced Francisco Marcial's imprisonment as resulting from a wrongful prosecution. The group declared her a prisoner of conscience, claiming there was no credible evidence against her, and that she had been prosecuted because of her gender, poverty, race, and inability to speak or understand the Spanish language.

In 2009, prosecutors dropped the case against Francisco Marcial and she was released. The two other women convicted of the same charges, Alberta Alcántara and Teresa González, had their convictions reversed by the Mexican Supreme Court in April 2010 and were also released from prison.[83]

Netherlands

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1986 Ina Post Murder and robbery Netherlands Life 4 years Yes Post was a carer for an 89-year-old woman who was strangled and robbed. She "seemed nervous" when questioned and under forceful Police questioning she confessed although later retracted. Post's alibi was not verified, another nearby similar crime which Post could not have done was ignored and there was no corroborating evidence. She was released from prison in 1990. The Dutch Appeal Court acquitted Post in 2010 and the Dutch Prosecutor admitted he was wrong.[84]
1994 Wilco Viets, Herman Dubois murder Putten 10 years 6 years yes The Putten murder case (1994): in this case, the 23-year-old stewardess Christel Ambrosius was found murdered in her grandmother's house, which was remotely located in the Veluwe. The police arrested four men who had been in those woods that weekend. Even though sperm found did not match the DNA of any of the four men, Wilco Viets and Herman Dubois were convicted to 10 years imprisonment anyway, of which they only served two thirds for good behavior. In April 2002, the Dutch high council (Supreme court) declared both men innocent, shortly after they had completed their sentences. Another suspect was apprehended in May 2008, based on a DNA match.[85]
22 June 2000 Cees Borsboom child sexual abuse and murder, another attempted murder Schiedam 18 years, psychiatric treatment 4 years partially In 2000 Nienke Kleiss was murdered in the Beatrix park from Schiedam. The suspect called the Police for finding a body. An under-age witness was abused during Police interrogation in order to provide incriminating evidence. The suspect has falsely confessed to committing the crime, but has recanted such confession. He was sentenced in 2002 to 18 years imprisonment and mandatory psychiatric treatment. In 2004 it became apparent that Wik H. was the real culprit. DNA evidence also cleared Borsboom. His jail time was interrupted and eventually he was partially rehabilitated, though not declared innocent. As a result of the scandal, Commission Posthumus was created in order to review possible wrongful convictions.[86]
2001 Lucia de Berk 7 murders The Hague life 6.5 years yes Lucia de Berk: was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003 for four murders and three attempted murders of patients in her care. After an appeal, she was convicted in 2004 of seven murders and three attempts. In October 2008, the case was reopened by the Dutch supreme court, as new facts had been uncovered that undermined the previous verdicts. De Berk was freed, and her case was re-tried; she was exonerated in April 2010.

New Zealand

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
June 17, 1970 (circa) Arthur Allan Thomas Murders of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe Pukekawa, Waikato 9 years Yes Arthur Allan Thomas, a New Zealand farmer, was twice convicted of the June 1970 murders of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe. He spent 9 years in prison but was given a Royal Pardon and was released and awarded $1 million compensation for wrongful convictions. A Royal Commission in 1980 found that the prosecution cases were flawed and that after firing Thomas' impounded rifle, police had planted a cartridge case in the Crewes' garden to incriminate him, and ignored evidence that pointed to another suspect. The prosecution had also denied alibi and witness information to the defence team.[87]
March 23, 1992 Teina Pora Rape and murder of Susan Burdett Papatoetoe, Auckland Life imprisonment with 10 years non-parole 21 years Burdett was raped and murdered in her own home. Pora, who was born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, was arrested on other charges about a year later and during an interview was told there was a $20,000 reward for information. Pora claimed he had acted as lookout for the offender. Later, he claimed he had been present in Burdett's home. No direct evidence implicating him was presented at trial but he was convicted in 1994. Later, Malcolm Rewa was convicted on DNA evidence for a series of sex crimes, and his DNA matched that found at the Burdett scene. Pora's conviction was quashed in March 2015. He was awarded $2.52 million compensation, later inflation-adjusted to $3.5 million.
October 1992 David Dougherty Abduction and rape of an 11-year-old girl Auckland 7 years 9 months imprisonment David Dougherty was convicted in 1993 on charges of abduction and the rape of an 11-year-old girl. After serving over 3 years in prison, he was acquitted in 1997 after new DNA evidence ruled him out. Compensation of over $800,000 was paid by the New Zealand Government and an apology given for the wrongful conviction. The real culprit, Nicholas Reekie, was later convicted of the crime.[88]
June 20, 1994 David Bain Murder of his parents and three siblings Dunedin Life imprisonment with 16 years non-parole 13.5 years David Bain was convicted in 1995 of the murders of all five members of his family the previous year. The defence put forward the argument that David's father, Robin Bain, killed the other members of his family and then himself while David was out on his morning paper run. David spent 13 years in prison proclaiming his innocence and was supported in his pursuit of justice by former All Black Joe Karam. Bain's convictions were overturned in 2007 by the Privy Council, which found that a substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred. He was awarded a retrial in 2009 and acquitted on all charges.
September 1, 2003 Aaron Farmer Rape of a 22-year woman Sydenham, Christchurch 8 years imprisonment 2 years Yes Aaron Farmer was convicted in 2005 on charges of raping a 22-year-old woman. The Court of Appeal set aside the conviction and ordered a retrial in June 2007 after it was determined that alibi evidence had not been presented to the jury. Before the retrial took place, DNA evidence ruled out Farmer and the Crown withdrew the case. Farmer received just over $350,000 compensation and a public apology from the government for the wrongful conviction.[89]

Nicaragua

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
November 21, 2006 Eric Volz Murder of Doris Ivania Jimenez San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua 30 years in prison 1 year, 1 month Yes In 2004, Eric Volz moved to Nicaragua and launched El Puente (EP) Magazine, a bilingual publication focusing on conscious living and smart tourism. In November 2006, while living in Nicaragua, Volz was falsely accused and wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of his former girlfriend, Doris Jimenez, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. After a tireless campaign on behalf of his family and friends, and intervention from the highest levels of the U.S. government and other international figures, an appeals court overturned his conviction and Volz was released in December 2007.

After returning to the U.S., St. Martin’s Press published Volz’s memoir, Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua.[90][91]

Norway

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
September, 1976-October 4, 1977 Fritz Moen The rapes and murders of two women, Torunn Finstad and Sigrid Heggheim Trondheim 21 years total in prison (Was originally sentenced in the Finstad case to 25 years on May 29, 1978, but on appeal, the sentence was reversed to 16 years 19 years Yes (Posthumously exonerated on August 24, 2006 for the rape and murder of Torunn Finstad) Fritz Moen, wrongfully convicted for separate murders of two 20-year-old women in 1976 and 1977. He was cleared of one murder in 2004. After his death in March 2005, he was cleared of the second murder, based on a reinvestigation of the case by Norway's Criminal Case Review Commission.[92] The case against Fritz Moen then stood as Europe's only known case of dual miscarriage, in which a country's judicial authorities have convicted the wrong person in two separately related murders.
24 December 1969 Per Kristian Liland Murder of John Oval Larsen and Håkon Edvard Johansen Fredrikstad 13 years. His sentence was extended by 10 years because he was considered a danger to society 23 years Yes Per Kristian Liland, wrongfully convicted of murdering two of his friends in 1969. He was cleared in 1994. His case is known as The Liland Affair.[93] Liland received 13.7 million Norwegian Kroner (about US$1.7 million) as compensation for the wrongful prison sentence.

Poland

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
December 31, 1996 Tomasz Komenda Rape and murder of 15-year-old Małgorzata Kwiatkowska Miłoszyce, Poland 25 years 18 years Yes (May 16, 2018) [94]

South Africa

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
2002 Thembekile Molaudzi Robbery and murder Pretoria, South Africa Life on four counts 11 years Yes In 2002, Dingaan Makuna, a policeman was killed during a failed hijacking. The police arrested several men, including Molaudzi, a Pretoria taxi driver. One of the co-defendants, (described later in court as a "reckless liar") said Molaudzi was one of the perpetrators although he later withdrew this confession. In spite of no other evidence linking him to the crime and the fact that Makuna's daughter who had witnessed the crime did not identify Moladuzi, he was convicted and sentenced to life in jail. Moladuzi spent his time in jail trying to prove his innocence (many of the court and police documents had mysteriously disappeared), was physically abused by the warders and spent four years in solitary confinement. In 2013 the Constitutional Court overturned his conviction.[95][96]

South Korea

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1972 Jeong Won-seop Rape and murder Chuncheon Life imprisonment 15 years Yes In 1972, a nine year old girl who was the daughter of a police chief was raped and murdered after leaving her home to visit a comic book shop. Jeong Won-seop, the owner of the comic book shop she had intended to visit, was arrested for her rape and murder. He was convicted on the basis of a confession later found to have been extracted through torture and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Chuncheon District Court, and released on parole in 1987 after serving 15 years. He was granted a retrial and acquitted by the Chuncheon District Court in 2008.[97]

Spain

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
November 16, 1491 Alonso, Lope, García, Juan and Yosef Franco; Benito García, Moshe Abenamías Murder of the Holy Child of La Guardia La Guardia, Toledo Death Variable No Six conversos and two Jews were arrested by the Spanish Inquisition and confessed under torture to have murdered a Christian child in La Guardia as part of a magic ritual; at least five were burned at an auto de fe in Avila. Because of constant contradictions and legal irregularities, the fact that the child was never named, no body was found, no child disappearance or murder was reported in La Guardia around that time, and obvious similarities with other European blood libels and antisemitic legends, historians agree that neither crime nor child actually existed. It is believed that the process was a sham to incite the expulsion of all Jews from Spain, which was decreed four months later.
May 25, 1918 Gregorio Valero, León Sánchez Murder of José María Grimaldos (a.k.a. "the Crime of Cuenca") Osa de la Vega, Cuenca 18 years in prison (each) 12 years and 2 months Yes Grimaldos, a shepherd, disappeared after an animal sale in 1910. His family accused Valero and Sánchez of killing him and stealing the money because they had a history of bullying Grimaldos. The case was dismissed by the local examining magistrate due to lack of evidence but it was reopened by his successor, Emilio Isasa Echenique, in 1913. Under Isasa's watch, Valero and Sánchez were arrested and extrajudicially tortured to make them confess. No body was found and the accused ended up claiming that they had fed it to pigs, then burned and grinded all remains left. After Grimaldos was found alive in Mira in 1926, the Supreme Court overturned the sentence and started proceedings against the responsible for the 1913 investigation. Isasa could not be judged because of his sudden death, officially attributed to a heart attack but suspected of being a suicide.
October 9, 1999 Dolores Vázquez Murder of Rocío Wanninkhof Mijas, Malaga 15 years in prison 17 months Yes Vázquez, the estranged lover of Wanninkhof's mother, was accused by her of the murder, and subsequently convicted in a jury trial despite the lack of evidence tying her to the crime. After three months, the High Court of Andalusia overturned the sentence citing gross irregularities and ordered a retrial. All charges against Vázquez were dropped when DNA found near the body was matched to Tony Alexander King, a convicted sexual offender and the murderer of another teenage girl in Coín.

Sweden

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1976-1988 Sture Bergwall Confessed to murdering 30 men, but was convicted of 8 murders Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland Closed psychiatric confinement 22–23 years Yes The case of Thomas Quick, a.k.a. Sture Bergwall, who was convicted, and later cleared, of eight separate murders in Sweden and Norway, that he had confessed while being under psychiatric evaluation, stands as one of the most infamous cases in Swedish history.
2004 Kaj Linna Murder and robbery Kalamark Life imprisonment 13 years Yes Linna was convicted on the key evidence of "Nils" who claimed he had he had heard Linna planning the robbery. Later interviews with Nils cast doubt on his veracity and Linna's conviction was overturned.[98]

Switzerland

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
May 1980 Werner Ferrari Murder Würenlos, Switzerland Life imprisonment Still in prison for other murders Yes In the 1980s, a string of eleven child abductions shocked Switzerland. While eight of them were found dead, the whereabouts of the others is still unknown. Werner Ferrari, who had already killed a child in 1971 and had served 8 years of a 10-year sentence for that crime, was arrested and confessed to four of the murders in 1989, but vehemently denied having murdered Ruth Steinmann in 1980. He pled guilty to the four murders he confessed to, and was convicted of murdering Steinmann. In 1995, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Seven years later, journalist and author Peter Holenstein showed evidence that Ferrarri could not have killed Steinmann, including DNA analyis that a pubic hair found on her body did not match him. A subsequent comparison of dentures proved that the bite mark on her body did not come from him, but from a similar-looking man who had committed suicide in 1983. He was acquitted of Steinmann's murder in 2007. Due to the other murders, he remains in prison, serving a life sentence.

Taiwan

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1996 Chiang Kuo-ching Rape and murder of a five-year-old girl Taipei, Taiwan Death Executed Yes Chiang was a Taiwanese air force private who was tortured for 37 hours to extract a confession, was convicted and executed by a military tribunal in 1997 for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl. In 2011, another airman Xu Rongzhou, who had a history of sexual abuse, confessed that he had been responsible for the crime and was convicted of it. In 2011 Chiang was posthumously acquitted by a military court. Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan's president, apologised to Chiang's family who were awarded US$3.4 million in compensation.[99][100][101]
2000 Lu Chieh-min Murder of his girl friend Kuo Taipei In 2010, sentenced to 13 years Four years Yes Kuo was found dead in 2000 in a public park in Taipei’s Neihu District and Lu was charged. Prosecutors claimed bite marks on Kuo's neck conformed to Lu's teeth. Lu was found not guilty in two trials but found guilty at a third trial in 2010. In 2015 the Taiwanese prosecutor presented new evidence to a retrial showing DNA tests on the saliva and semen on the girl's clothes and body did not match Lu and he was found not guilty. Prosecutors said they would not appeal.[102]

Uganda

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1981 Edward Edmary Mpagi Murder of William George Wandyaka Kyamabaale, Masaka , Uganda Death 18 years on death row, 2 years on remand Presidential pardon Mpagi was arrested in 1981 for the murder of Wandyaka. Although Wandyaka was alive and well and in hiding Mpagi was convicted on the basis of four perjured witnesses and sentenced to death. An Italian priest visited the village and found Wandayaka alive. The priest got 90 villagers to write to the attorney general testifying Wandayka was alive and Mpagi received a presidential pardon.[103][80]

United Kingdom

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
1660 John, Richard and Joan Perry Murder and robbery of William Harrison Chipping Campden, England Death Executed No Wealthy 70-year old Harrison was last seen walking to Charingworth. After his hat, coat and neckband were found on the side of the road with a sharp cut and sprinkled in blood, his servant John Perry claimed that Perry's own brother and mother had murdered Harrison to rob him, and subsequently dumped the body in a pond. The pond was drained but no body was found. The Perrys then alternated between pleading guilt and innocence, until they were all found guilty and hanged. However, Harrison reappeared in 1662, claiming to have been abducted by Barbary pirates. It has been claimed that this case caused British courts to not give murder sentences without a body for the next 250 years.
1679 Robert Green, Henry Berry and Lawrence Hill Murder London Death Executed No Robert Green, Henry Berry and Lawrence Hill were hanged in 1679 at Greenberry Hill on false evidence for the unsolved murder of Edmund Berry Godfrey. Historians accept they were innocent.
1908 Oscar Slater Murder Glasgow Death 19 years Yes Oscar Slater was wrongfully convicted in 1909 of the murder of Marion Gilchrist on the flimsiest evidence, and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he served at hard labour until his conviction was quashed in 1928.[104]
1949 Timothy Evans Murder London Death Executed Yes Evans's wife and young daughter were killed in 1949. Evans was convicted of the murder of his daughter and was hanged in 1950. An official inquiry conducted 15 years later determined that the real killer of Evans's daughter had been Evans's co-tenant, serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie. Christie was also responsible for the death of his own wife and six other women. Christie was the chief witness against Evans at his trial because the police accepted all of his statements as fact. The police were incompetent in several searches of the house at 10 Rillington Place, missing bones of earlier victims exposed in the tiny garden of the property. They also concocted false confessions from Evans to justify their accusations against him. The case was important in leading directly to the abolition of capital punishment in 1965 in the UK.
1949 George Kelly Double murder Liverpool Death Executed Yes George Kelly was executed in 1950 for the 1949 murder of the manager of the Cameo Cinema in Liverpool, UK and his assistant during a robbery that went wrong. This case became known as the Cameo Murder. Kelly's conviction was overturned in 2003. Another man, Donald Johnson, had confessed to the crime but the police bungled Johnson's case and had not divulged his confession at Kelly's trial.[105]
1952 Mahmood Hussein Mattan Murder of a woman Cardiff Death Executed Yes Mahmood Mattan, a Somali fisherman, was arrested and convicted of the murder of Lily Volpert, 42 in spite of the police bungling the investigation. Mattan was hanged in Cardiff in 1952. His conviction was overturned in 1998. £1.4 million compensation was shared out between Mattan's widow Laura, and her three children.
1952 Derek Bentley Murder of a policeman Croydon Death Executed Yes Bentley, a mentally handicapped young man and his accomplice Christopher Craig, attempted a burglary. The police found them and a policeman was killed by a shot from Craig's revolver. Craig was under 18 and could not be executed but Bentley was executed. In 1998, the Court of Appeal quashed Bentley's conviction for murder.[106]
1962 George Thatcher Murder Mitcham, Surrey Death, reduced to life on appeal 20 years Thatcher served 20 years following the murder of Dennis Hurden during a botched Mitcham, Surrey Co-op burglary in 1962 and a co-accused naming him as the murderer (confession later retracted). Thatcher was initially sentenced to death, but this was later reduced to a life sentence following an appeal. One of his co-accused admitted to the murder.[107]
1972 Andrew Evans Murder of a girl Tamworth Life 25 years Yes Andrew Evans confessed to the 1972 murder of 14-year-old Judith Roberts after seeing the girl's face in a dream. He was convicted and served more than 25 years. His conviction was overturned in 1997.
1972 Liam Holden Murder Belfast Death, commuted to life imprisonment 17 years Yes Liam Holden was convicted of murdering a British soldier in Northern Ireland in 1973 during The Troubles. Holden later claimed to have been forced to sign a confession by soldiers who tortured and threatened to shoot him. While the death penalty had been abolished in Great Britain in 1965, it was retained in Northern Ireland until July 1973. Holden was sentenced to death, and was the last person ever sentenced to death by a British court. After the death penalty was abolished in Northern Ireland, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released on license in 1989. In 2012, an appeals court overturned his conviction.[108][109]
1973 Stephen Downing Murder of a girl Bakewell Indefinite 27 years Yes Stephen Downing was convicted of the murder of Wendy Sewell in a Bakewell churchyard in 1973. The 17-year-old had a reading age of 11 and worked at the cemetery as a gardener. The police made him sign a confession that he was unable to read. The case gained international notoriety as the "Bakewell Tart" murder. After spending 27 years in prison, Stephen Downing was released in 2001 and his conviction overturned in 2002. Thought to be one of the longest miscarriages of justice in British legal history.
1974 Judith Ward Planting time bomb Yorkshire Life 18 Years Yes, 1992 In November 1974 Judith Ward was wrongfully convicted of the February M62 coach bombing which killed 12 people (9 soldiers & 3 civilians) and injuring 38. She was also convicted of a handful of smaller bombings which killed nobody
November 1974 Birmingham Six Planting two bombs Birmingham Life 17 Years Yes, 1991 The Birmingham Six were convicted in 1975 of planting two bombs in pubs in Birmingham in 1974 which killed 21 people and injured 182. They were finally released in 1991.
October and November 1974 and 1975 Guildford Four and Maguire Seven Planting bombs, making bombs Guilford and Woolwich Murder and other charges Guildford Four = 15 years, Maguire Seven = 14 Years, 11 years, 4 years & 3 years Yes, 1989 & 1991 The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were wrongly convicted in 1974 and 1976 respectively of planting bombs in various pubs in Guildford and Woolwich. Their convictions were quashed in 1989 and 1991. On February 9, 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a public apology to the Maguire Seven and the Guildford Four for the "miscarriages of justice they had suffered."
1974-1978 Terry Pinfold and Harry MacKenney Contract killings London Life 23 years Yes Two Essex businessmen and former prisoners, Pinfold and MacKenney, were convicted of murder at the Old Bailey in 1980 after John Childs confessed in 1979 to six contract killings from 1974-8 and implicated the pair, his former employers, in the crimes. The bodies were never found, but MacKenney received a whole life tariff.[110] Pinfold was released on bail in 2001 and after a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, both Pinfold and MacKenney had their convictions overturned at the Court of Appeal in 2003. A forensic psychiatrist, David Somekh, concluded that Childs had a personality disorder that led him to compulsively lie, and the original trial jury were blocked from being told this.[110] Pinfold's lawyer said that former Detective Chief Inspector James Harrison-Griffiths was told in 1976 by Commander Bert Wickstead of the Metropolitan Police that the apparent first victim, Terry Eve - by then a missing person - was alive and living in west London.[110][111] Lord Woolf, with Mr Justice Aikens and Mr Justice Davis, ruled that Childs' evidence against the pair was unreliable because he was a "pathological liar".[112]
1975 Stefan Kiszko Rape and murder of a girl Rishworth Moor, West Yorkshire Life 16 Years 1992 Stefan Kiszko was convicted in 1976 for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old Lesley Molseed in 1975. He spent 16 years in prison before he was released in 1992, after a long campaign by his mother. He died of a heart attack the following year at the age of 41. His mother died a few months later. In 2007, Ronald Castree, of Shaw, near Oldham, was arrested on DNA evidence, was convicted of Molseed's murder at Bradford Crown Court and jailed for life.
1977 Robert Brown Murder of a woman Hulme, Manchester Life 25 years Yes Brown was convicted in 1977 of the murder of 51 year old Annie Walsh at her flat in Hulme, Greater Manchester. Despite numerous appeals, Brown's conviction was only declared 'unsafe' in 2002, when three appeal court judges heard how his confession was beaten out of him, the forensic evidence pointed to someone else and a report into police corruption (that led to Brown's interrogating officer being sent to prison for four years) was suppressed until days before his 2002 appeal. Brown was eligible for parole in 1992, but he refused to admit to a crime that he did not commit and so prolonged his sentence. Brown stated that clearing his name was more important than his freedom.[113]
1978 Bridgewater Four Murder of a boy Stourbridge Life and 12 years (Malloy) 18 years Yes The Bridgewater Four were convicted in 1979 of murdering Carl Bridgewater, a 13-year-old paper boy who was shot on his round when he disturbed robbers at a farm in Staffordshire. Patrick Molloy died in jail in 1981. The remaining three were released in 1997 after their convictions were overturned.
1986 Michael Shirley Rape and murder of Linda Cook Portsmouth Life imprisonment 16 years 2003 Michael Shirley, a Royal Navy seaman, was convicted of the rape and murder of a 24-year-old barmaid in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 1986. After completing the recommended minimum 15 years of his life sentence he maintained his innocence even though this meant he would not be released on parole. In 2002 the case was referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission to the Court of Appeal, where the conviction was quashed on the basis of fresh DNA evidence.[114]
1986 Danny McNamee Conspiracy to bomb Crossmaglem 25 years 12 years Conviction overturned because of other, much more prominent, fingerprints on the bomb circuit boards.
1987 Cardiff Newsagent Three (Michael O'Brien, Darren Hall and Ellis Sherwood) Murder Cardiff Life 11 years 1999 The Cardiff Newsagent Three were wrongly convicted for the murder of a newsagent, Phillip Saunders. In 1987 Mr Saunders, 52, was battered with a spade outside his Cardiff home. The day's takings from his kiosk had been stolen, and five days later he died of his injuries. The Court of Appeal quashed their convictions in 1999. The three have since been paid six figure compensation, but South Wales Police had still not apologised or admitted liability for malicious prosecution or misfeasance.
1988 Cardiff Three (Steven Miller, Yusef Abdullahi, and Tony Paris) Murder Cardiff Life imprisonment 2 years 1992 The Cardiff Three, were falsely jailed in 1990 for the murder of prostitute Lynette White in Cardiff in 1988 and later cleared on appeal due to DNA evidence. In 2003, Jeffrey Gafoor was jailed for life for the murder. Subsequently, in 2005, 12 Police Officers were arrested and questioned for false imprisonment, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and misconduct. In 2011, eight of the officers stood trial at Swansea Crown Court for perverting the course of justice together with three witnesses accused of perjury. However the case collapsed, as the judge ruled the police officers could not be given a fair trial due to the previous publicity.[115]
1988 M25 Three Murder and robbery London Life 10 years Yes Convictions ruled unsafe after an appeal to the European Court of Justice.
1992 Eddie Gilfoyle Murder of his wife Upton Life imprisonment 19 years Yes Eddie Gilfoyle protested his innocence for nearly two decades after being convicted in 1993 of murdering his pregnant wife, Paula, and making it look like suicide. It subsequently emerged that two CID officers of Merseyside Police force had wilfully withheld evidence (most notably a diary) which would have proven Eddie Gilfoyle's innocence at the outset. Eddie Gilfoyle was released in 2012 after serving 19 years in prison.
1996 Donna Anthony Murder of two babies Somerset Life Six years Yes Anthony was wrongly jailed in 1998 for the death of her 11-month-old son, also because of the opinion of Sir Roy Meadow, and finally released in 2005.
1996 Sally Clark Murder of her two sons Devizes Life 4 years 2003 Clark was convicted in 1996 of the murder of her two small sons Christopher and Harry, and spent three years in jail, finally being released in 2003 on appeal. The convictions were based solely on the analysis of the deaths by the Home Office Pathologist Alan Williams, who failed to disclose relevant information about the deaths, that was backed up by the paediatric professor Sir Roy Meadow, whose opinion was pivotal in several other child death convictions, many of which have been overturned or are in the process of being disputed. In 2005 Williams was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and barred from practising pathology for 3 years. In July 2005 Meadow was also removed from the Medical Register for serious professional misconduct and prohibited from practising medicine. Sally Clark became an alcoholic as a result of her ordeal and died of alcohol poisoning in 2006.
1999 Angela Cannings Murder of two babies Salisbury, Wiltshire Life 2 years Yes Angela Cannings was jailed wrongly for four years on the now discredited evidence of Sir Roy Meadow.
2000 Barri White Murder Milton Keynes Life 7 years Yes In 2000, Rachel Manning, aged 19, was found strangled to death and her face battered with a car crook lock in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Her boyfriend, White, who was 20 at the time, was jailed for life in 2002 for her murder, only to be freed after being acquitted of killing her at a retrial. Mr White's co-accused, Keith Hyatt, 47 at the time, served two-and-a-half years for perverting the course of justice, relating to the post-death battering of the victim’s face, before also having his conviction quashed. Dr Peter Bull, an expert in geo-science forensics, labelled the evidence 'totally implausible'. In 2011, Shahidul Ahmed, 40, from Bletchley, was arrested and convicted of Manning's murder in 2013.[116]
1678 Thomas Whitbread Treason - conspiracy to murder King Charles II London Execution Executed No Convicted and executed on the perjured evidence of Titus Oates
1895 Adolf Beck ten misdemeanours and four felonies London Seven years in prison Six years Yes Wrongfully convicted on the basis of mistaken eyewitness testimony, unreliable methods of conviction and rush to convict by the police. His case led to the creation of the English Court of Criminal Appeal.
1991 Christy Walsh Possessing explosives Belfast Imprisonment 14 years No Conviction overturned as unsafe (procedural irregularities might have amounted to an interference with his right to a fair trial) on a third appeal. Walsh was refused compensation.
1996 Victor Nealon Rape Redditch Discretionary life sentence 17 years No Conviction quashed after unknown person's DNA was found on the woman's clothes. Nealon was denied compensation.
1997 Siôn Jenkins Murder Hastings, East Sussex Life imprisonment 6 years Yes Sion Jenkins, acquitted after a second retrial of the murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins in February 2006. Jenkins was convicted in 1998 but the conviction was quashed in 2004 following a CCRC referral. The basis of the quashed conviction at the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) were the concessions by the Crown's pathologist that evidence given at the first tribunal were inaccurate.
1985 Winston Silcott Murder London Imprisonment Six years Yes Winston Silcott was convicted (he was already serving 18 years for the murder of Tony Smith) for the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the 1985 Broadwater Farm Riot in Tottenham. He was cleared in 1991, when new evidence came to light.
1931 William Herbert Wallace Murder Liverpool Death Yes William Herbert Wallace who was convicted of murdering his wife, but the conviction was overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1931, the first such instance of a capital conviction being quashed.
1974 Judith Ward Murder M62 motorway, Northern England Imprisonment 18 years Yes In 1974 Judith Ward was convicted of murder of several people caused by a number of IRA bombings in 1973. She was finally released in 1992 having served 18 years in prison.
1979 Sean Hodgson Murder Southampton Life imprisonmet 27 Years 2009 Sean Hodgson, also known as Robert Graham Hodgson, was convicted in 1982 of murder following various confessions to police, although he pleaded not guilty at his trial. His defence said he was a pathological liar and the confessions were untrue. He was freed on March 18, 2009 by the Court of Appeal as a result of advances in DNA analysis which established his innocence.[117]
1978 Paul Blackburn Attempted murder Chester Life imprisonment 25 years Yes Paul Blackburn was convicted in 1978 when aged 15 of the attempted murder of a 9-year-old boy, and spent more than 25 years in 18 different prisons, during which time he maintained his innocence. He said he had never considered saying he was guilty to secure an earlier release because it was a matter of "integrity". He was finally released in May 2005 having served 25 years when the Court of Appeal ruled his trial was unfair and his conviction 'unsafe'.
2001 Barry George Murder London Life imprisonment Seven years Yes Barry George was cleared on August 1, 2008 of murdering Jill Dando after a retrial in which police were unable to rely on discredited forensic evidence.
2005 Suzanne Holdsworth Murder of two-year-old boy Hartlepool Life 3 years Yes Suzanne Holdsworth served three years of a life sentence after she was convicted in 2005 of murdering Kyle Fisher, a neighbour's two-year-old son, by repeatedly banging his head against a wooden bannister at her home in Hartlepool. She was found not guilty in 2008 by the Court of Appeal after new medical evidence suggested Kyle may have died from an epileptic seizure.[118]
2004 Sam Hallam Murder London Minimumum of 12 years imprisonment 7 years Yes Sam Hallam was wrongly jailed for life in 2005 for the murder of Essayas Kassahun. He was released in May 2012 after prosecutors told three senior judges that they would not oppose his appeal.[119]
2011 Ched Evans Rape Rhyl 5 years 2 years 6 months Yes Evans, a professional footballer, was convicted in 2012 of the rape of an anonymous complainant. In 2015, the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal, having examined new evidence from two of the complainant's previous sexual partners about her behaviour, which bore similarities to Evans's account that the Commission decided "could not reasonably be explained as a coincidence". In 2016, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial, at which Evans was found not guilty.

United States

Due to the high number of notable wrongful conviction entries for the United States, the list can be viewed via the main article.

Vietnam

Date of crime Defendant(s) Crime Location Sentence Time served Legally exonerated Notes
15 August 2003 Nguyen Thanh Chan, Murder of a woman Me village in Nghia Trung commune, Northern Vietnam Life 10 years Yes Chan was arrested in 2003 for the murder of Nguyen Thi Hoan. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and had to pay 35 million Vietnamese đồng (about US$1,600) to the victim's family. His wife Nguyen Thi Chien continued to fight for his innocence and in July 2013 presented evidence to the courts showing that another man in the same commune, Ly Nguyen Chung, had committed the crime. Chung was arrested by the police and admitted the murder in November 2013. Chan was acquitted.[120][121]

See also

References

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