Inmate Freed Due to DNA Test

201st INMATE FREED DUE TO DNA TESTING
Tennessee Death Row Prisoners Still Waiting for a Day in Court

Nashville: In Oklahoma City today Curtis Edward McCarty, who was convicted twice and sentenced to death for the same murder in verdicts that were both thrown out based on evidence of his innocence and an extraordinary pattern of government misconduct, was released from prison after a judge dismissed the indictment against him that would have led to a third trial. The prosecution said today that it will not appeal the decision – finally clearing McCarty after 21 years of wrongful incarceration, more than 16 of them on death row. McCarty becomes the 201st prisoner in America freed from prison due to DNA testing, and the 124th death row exoneree nationally.


“The exoneration of Curtis Edward McCarty after 21 years in prison should serve as a sobering reminder to all of us that even in death penalty cases, mistakes are made,” said Alex Wiesendanger, Associate Director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing. “The death penalty is too absolute a form of punishment for a system which is so prone to error.”

Mr. McCarty was freed due, in large part, to the work of the Innocence Project, which works to free wrongfully convicted inmates using DNA technology. In 2002, the Innocence Project was instrumental in freeing Tennessee inmate Clark McMillan who had served over 20 years after being wrongfully convicted of rape. The Innocence Project also submitted an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court last in the case of Paul Gregory House, a Tennessee death row inmate who has spent 22 years on death row for a crime despite new DNA evidence and witness testimony pointing to his innocence. The Supreme Court ruled that, “viewing the record as a whole, no reasonable juror would lack a reasonable doubt” in June of 2006. Despite this ruling, Paul House still sits on Tennessee’s death row as the state continues to argue that he should not be allowed to introduce the evidence which the Supreme Court said would lead a jury to find him not guilty.

“Across the country, the 124 death row exonerees are walking, talking reminders that our death penalty system is severely broken,” said Wiesendanger. “Curtis McCarty was nearly executed before the truth of his innocence could come to light. Paul House is still waiting for justice while battling a degenerative illness and a legal system intent on executing him.”

In the modern execution era, there have been 1075 executions, including the most recent execution of Philip Workman in Tennessee early Wednesday morning. In that same period of time, 124 inmates have been exonerated from death row. This represents more than 1 exoneration for every 9 executions.

“For anyone who believes that the death penalty is administered fairly and accurately, exonerees like Curtis McCarty, and inmates like Paul House who are still waiting for justice, should serve as a wake up call,” said Wiesendanger. “With innocent lives at stake, Tennesseans cannot afford to believe that our system is working perfectly. We need a complete study of Tennessee’s death penalty immediately.”