Death row exonerations reach new high_90803

Posted: 9/5/03

Death row exonerations reach new high

WASHINGTON (RNS)--Nine death row inmates have been exonerated this year, the highest number in 15 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Three men who spent a combined 67 years on death row were freed in late July, bringing to 111 the number of inmates who have been released from death row since 1973.

All charges were dropped against Timothy Howard and Gary Lamar James, childhood friends who were convicted in 1977 in Ohio on robbery and murder charges, after new evidence was presented in Howard's case and James passed a polygraph test. Both men were on death row before Ohio's capital punishment law was overturned in 1978.

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Posted: 9/5/03

Death row exonerations reach new high

WASHINGTON (RNS)–Nine death row inmates have been exonerated this year, the highest number in 15 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Three men who spent a combined 67 years on death row were freed in late July, bringing to 111 the number of inmates who have been released from death row since 1973.

All charges were dropped against Timothy Howard and Gary Lamar James, childhood friends who were convicted in 1977 in Ohio on robbery and murder charges, after new evidence was presented in Howard's case and James passed a polygraph test. Both men were on death row before Ohio's capital punishment law was overturned in 1978.

A third man, Joseph Amrine, was released from a Missouri prison after spending 17 years on death row. Discovery of inaccurate testimony from witnesses helped free Amrine from a conviction in the 1985 murder of a fellow inmate.

Six inmates from Illinois, Louisiana and Florida have been freed this year; another man, Nicholas James Yarris, is expected to be released in Pennsylvania.

“With these most recent exonerations, it is increasingly clear that the death penalty is falling apart at the seams,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment. “There is no question that additional cases of innocence remain uncovered on America's death row.”

Most religious groups oppose capital punishment, although many Baptist groups have supported it strongly.

In 2000, then-Gov. George Ryan of Illinois imposed a moratorium on all executions after 13 inmates had their sentences overturned. Days before he left office last January, Ryan commuted the death sentences of 167 inmates.

Illinois remains the only state to have a moratorium on all executions.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich of Maryland overturned a statewide moratorium imposed by his predecessor, Parris Glendening, when he was inaugurated earlier this year.

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