Reply #1: I believe that this has never happened [View All]

That is, nobody has ever been executed and subsequently been found innocent via DNA. There have been some very close calls though:

Frank Lee Smith was sentenced to death in Florida in 1986 for the murder and rape of an eight year old girl during an attempted burglary. His conviction was based on the eyewitness testimony of the victim’s mother, who claimed to have seen Smith through the front window of her house. Two neighbors also claimed to have seen Smith directly following the incident and their reports were used to compile a composite sketch which was used to arrest Smith. The testimony of these eyewitnesses, as well as the presentation of Smith’s criminal record, earned Smith the death sentence by a unanimous jury. Smith was granted a stay of execution in 1990 and the Florida Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing in 1998, based on defense claims of new evidence. One of the eyewitnesses had changed her story, and an investigation by the defense had led to another suspect. In January of 2000, while the renewed investigation continued to take place, Smith died of cancer, still on death row. It was not until December of that year that prosecutors and the FBI obtained DNA evidence that exonerated Smith of the crime. Frank Lee Smith spent a total of 14 years on death row and died in prison for a crime he did not commit. (The Innocence Project)

In 1991, Ray Krone was arrested and subsequently convicted and sentence to death for the killing of a Phoenix, Arizona woman in the restroom of a bar. Krone, who had no prior criminal record, was arrested based on a statement by the victim’s friend that he was supposed to have helped her close the bar (where she worked) that night. Although saliva and blood were found on the victim’s body at the scene of the crime, no DNA testing was originally performed, and the only physical evidence presented at trial were the bite mark imprints left on the victim’s body that supposedly matched a Styrofoam impression made by Krone. Convicted in 1992 and sentenced to death, Krone received a new trial four years later, and was sentenced to life in prison. Finally, in 2002, DNA testing was performed on the blood and saliva present at the crime scene, and Krone was exonerated. He had spent a total of 10 years in prison, four of which were spent awaiting execution. (The Innocence Project)


see http://www.ncadp.org/fact_sheet4.html