Wrongful execution

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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Capital punishment. (Discuss)

Wrongful execution is a miscarriage of justice occurring when an innocent person is put to death by capital punishment, the "death penalty". The possibility of wrongful executions is one of the arguments presented by the opponents of capital punishment; other arguments include failing to deter crime more than life imprisonment, violating human rights, leading to wrongful executions, and discriminating against minorities and the poor. [1] [2][3]

Newly-available DNA evidence has allowed the exoneration of more than one person per year since 1992 [1] in the U.S., but DNA evidence is only available in a fraction of capital cases.

In the UK reviews prompted by the Criminal Cases Review Commission have resulted in one pardon and three exonerations for people executed between 1950 and 1953 (when the execution rate in England and Wales averaged 17 per year), with compensation being paid. Timothy Evans was granted a posthumous free pardon in 1966. Mahmood Hussein Mattan was convicted in 1953, but had his conviction quashed in 1998. George Kelly was hanged at Liverpool in 1950, but had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in June 2003. Derek Bentley had his conviction quashed in 1998 with the appeal trial judge noting the original trial judge had denied the defendant "the fair trial which is the birthright of every British citizen".

Wrongful execution is the main plot of the 2003 film The Life of David Gale, directed by Alan Parker and starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet and Laura Linney.

  1. ^ [http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/25casesdraft.html
  2. ^ http://mitglied.lycos.de/PeterWill/penal9.htm
  3. ^ http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=412&scid=6

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