Wrongful Convictions
Imagine being convicted of a crime you had no knowledge of. It is very hard to
comprehend, when you are on the other side of it. Most people think “Oh … that could never
happen to me”. Sad reality is wrongful convictions happen all the time in the United States, and
to anyone! In the form of them being charged with crimes that did not involve them. There have
been several people that have been on death row, even some have died innocent. There are many
reasons why wrongful convictions happen. Police accusations, fabricated stories & being at the
wrong place at the wrong time to name a few. To date there are roughly between two-percent and
ten-percent of prisoners in prison for crimes they have not committed. (Time, 2015)
Wrongful convictions have costed a few people their lives, such as Jessie Tafero. His
case involved himself, his wife (Sunny), his kids, one of his “friends” and two highway
patrolmen. Sunny and the kids were visiting Jessie in Florida. Jessie was having car problems, so
he asked a “friend” for a ride. The ride begins to be too much for his friend, so they pulled over
to a rest stop intending to sleep for a few hours. Two highway patrolmen just doing their job
patrolling, look in the car and see a pistol under the driver’s legs. Everyone in the car is then
awaken by knocking on the window. His friend realizing that the pistol was underneath him
decides to shoot at the cops, because he was a felon. In the United States, it is a crime for a felon
to be in possession of a gun. Jessie’s friend decided to blame everything on Jessie and Sunny.
They both got convicted and sentenced to Death. Later on, a few years while both Jessie and
Sunny are still on death row the friend recounts his story and takes full responsibility. The courts
did not change the jurisdiction, even with the new-found evidence. The state went ahead and
killed Jessie very violently anyways. He was burned alive, because someone had changed the
natural sea sponge to an artificial sponge. It took thirteen and a half minutes for Jessie to die. The
Wrongful Convictions
reason behind this was because it was believed that he was responsible for the deaths of the two
cops. (Art19, 2016)
As of Late 2015, the United States has executed over 1,414 individuals in this country
since 1976. 156 people have been exonerated from death row that were found to not have done it
and let go since 1973. To put this in perspectives, for every ten people who have been executed
in North America since the death penalty was reinstated, one person has been released.
The 156 exonerees are a prime witness to the fact that we have made deep mistakes in the use of
the death penalty. Many of the exonerees are trying to teach people the dangers of the death
penalty. (National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, 2015)
Kirk Bloodsworth is one of the 156 people that were exonerated from death row. His case
