California´s death penalty opponents say as many as five Death Row inmates have been exonerated while 10 have been executed.
That´s a track record similar to Illinois, where the governor commuted all the death sentences in January. The actual innocence of the five California inmates isn´t clear.
They include an acknowledged cop-killer who was freed on the grounds he acted in self-defense, and two men convicted of being present as their accomplices committed the actual murders.
Prosecutors say not a single formerly-condemned California inmate has been exonerated — nor have any of the 617 inmates currently awaiting execution demonstrated actual innocence.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 4:46 pm