There were 90 minutes left for its execution. The doctor had already examined the veins in his arm, they had asked him if he wanted to eat something special and where they should send his body. In extremis his lawyer obtained a postponement. Up to six times he lived the day of his execution. He had been arrested for stealing from several stores and accused of having murdered a waiter during a robbery. He was saved by a group of lawyers who reviewed the case. The trial was repeated when he had been in prison for 17 years, it was learned that the Police had not given the court 35 indications of his innocence; among them, the testimony of a witness that exonerated him.
KIRK BLOODSWORTH
2 years on death row
Age: 60 years | State: Maryland | Sentenced: 1985
Five witnesses claimed to have seen him with the victim, a 9-year-old girl who was raped and murdered. When he was sentenced, the courtroom was filled with shouts: “Gasse him and make him burst!” This fisherman and former Marine had been in prison for 9 years – 2 of them on death row – when he read that DNA tests had proven the innocence of a defendant. He mentioned it to his lawyer. And that saved his life. The real culprit was identified thanks to DNA. He was another inmate Bloodsworth met in the prison gym. When the prosecutor asked if she wanted him sentenced to death, Bloodsworth responded, “For what?” Now he is free, but “there are still people who call me 'child killer',” he says.
PERRY COBB
8 years on death row
Age: 79 years | State: Illinois | Sentenced: 1979
«There were fingerprints, but they were not mine; “I have never been 1.80 centimeters tall and I have never had a light complexion,” she explains. The evidence and testimony were inconclusive. But they still convicted him of having committed two robberies with homicide. The trial was repeated several times: he was acquitted in the fifth. During his 18 years in prison, “I lost my family; My children grew up without me. I feel a mixture of pain and sorrow. I used to feel hate, but not anymore. “I hated it so much that I almost destroyed myself,” he says.
SABRINA BUTLER-SMITH
3 years on death row
Age: 50 years | State: Mississippi | Sentenced: 1990
Her 9-month-old son was drowning. She took him to the hospital, where the baby died. The next day she was arrested: the child had bruises. She said it was due to attempts to revive him, but they didn't believe her. She was convicted of murder. She spent 5 years in prison and 3 on death row. She appealed, the trial was repeated and she was acquitted. She got married, has three children and wants to be a criminal investigator.
KWAME AJAMU
2 years on death row
Age: 63 years | State: Ohio | Sentence: 1975
A 12-year-old boy said he witnessed the murder of a Cleveland post office employee. Three boys were convicted; among them, Ajamu, who was then called Ronnie Bridgeman and was 17 years old. In prison he converted to Islam and spent 28 years of his life there. A Cleveland magazine examined the case: the child witness had tried to repent and, furthermore, the convicted men had an alibi: Ajamu, for example, was on a bus when the crime was committed. In 2003 he was released from prison. He has had to wait 39 years for absolute exoneration to arrive. He is now an activist against the death penalty.
JOAQUÍN MARTINEZ
3 years on death row
Age: 49 years | State: Florida | Sentenced: 1997
This Spaniard lived in Florida and was getting divorced. His ex-wife accused him of killing a drug dealer and his girlfriend in Tampa. Joaquín had two guns and was living the life of a party animal at the time. His lawyer made mistakes in his defense. They sentenced him to the electric chair. He spent 5 years in jail; 3 of them on death row. His parents moved to Rome with Santiago to have the case reviewed, until Pope John Paul II interceded. The trial was repeated in 2001 and he was found not guilty. He now lives in Valencia.
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