Who? James Adams
                    Where? Florida
                    Crime? Mr. Adams was convicted of first degree murder, sentenced to death, and executed in 1984. A witness claims to have                   seen  Mr. Adams driving away from the scene of the crime. But the witness was driving the the direction opposite of Adams' car. It was discovered later that the witness was angry with Adams for allegedly dating his wife.  A second witness, the day after the crime, stated  t he fleeing man was positively not Adams. A hair sample found clutched in the hand of the victim did not match Adam's hair.
 

                  Who? William Henry Anderson
                   Where? Florida
                   Crime? Mr. Anderson was convicted of the rape of a white woman, sentenced to death, and executed in 1945 without an appeal having been made. The victim had not resisted, screamed, or used an available pistol to resist Mr. Anderson's advances. Mr. Anderson and the victim had been consensually intimate for several months before rape charges were filed.
 

                    Who? Roosevelt Collins
                    From? Alabama
                    Crime? Mr. Collins was convicted of rape, sentenced to death, and executed in 1937. Collins tested that the "victim" had consented. The all white jury deliberated for only four minutes. Interviews with several jurors revealed that although they believed the act was consensual, they also though Collins deserved to die for "messin' around" with a white woman. Even the judge, off the record, admitted his belief that Collins was telling the truth. "An innocent man went to his death."
 

                    Who? Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti
                    Where? Massachusetts
                    Crime? Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted of murder in the coarse of armed robbery, sentenced to death, and executed in 1927. They were arrested and tried in an atmosphere dominated by "the Red Scare" of the early 1920s. In 1925, another man also under the death sentence in Massachusetts confessed to the crime. Extensive investigation of the confession convinced many that he was telling the truth.
"Courtesy of Michael L. Radelet, Hugu Adam Bedau, and Constance Putman. In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases."

                          A DNA test exonerated Kirk Bloodsworth nearly 10 years after he was condemned to die in 1984 for the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl. "People say, ‘Oh, that means the system works,’" said Bloodsworth, a burly, 38-year-old crabber from Cambridge, Md. "No it didn't. It backfired. ...For 8 years, 11 months and 19 days I was in a place I didn't belong, and for two years they were going to kill me."
"Courtesy of "http://abcnews.go.com/"
 
 

*Disclaimer-- Many people believe that 24 innocent lives have been taken but the government has not confessed to any of them.*

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