Wrongful Convictions: Estimated 4 Percent of U.S. Death-Row Prisoners Innocent

Statistics show that over 30 states in the U.S. still uphold laws in favor of capital punishment.

Yet a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor shows that at least one in 25 people on death row in the United States would be exonerated if they received more time, based on the rate of false convictions.

According to lead study author Samuel Gross, a criminologist at the university, quantifying exonerations is a way to catch a glimpse into the extent of wrongful convictions.

The study authors analyzed a report by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics in Washington, D.C., which found the following, courtesy of a press release: "less than 0.1% of prison sentences are death sentences, yet capital cases accounted for 12% of exonerations between 1989 and 2012. Gross attributes the disparity to the tendency of lawyers and courts to work harder to definitively determine guilt when a person's life is on the line."

Though many death sentences are never carried out as the accused may die waiting on death row or serve a life sentence, the researchers looked to determine what might have happened to these prisoners if they had remained alive.  

They found that the longer a person remained on death row, the higher the chance that he or she might be exonerated. They also discovered that those sentenced to death could be kept on death row indefinitely without ever being exonerated, while receiving a life sentence or dying of another cause. In this case, only 4.1 percent would be exonerated, according to the release, which still underestimates the number of innocent convictions.

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More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Nature.