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   From: "@SHAW.CA   
      
   1. David Keaton Florida Conviction 1971 Charges dropped 1973   
   On the basis of mistaken identification and coerced confessions,   
   Keaton was sentenced to death for murdering an off duty deputy   
   sheriff during a robbery. The State Supreme Court reversed the   
   conviction and granted Keaton a new trial because of newly   
   discovered evidence. Charges were dropped and he was released   
   after the actual killer was identified and convicted. (Keaton v.   
   State, 273 So.2d 385 (1973)).   
      
      
   1974   
      
   2. Samuel A. Poole North Carolina Conviction 1973 Released 1974   
   After being convicted of first degree burglary and given a   
   mandatory death sentence, Poole had his conviction overturned by   
   the N.C. Supreme Court because the case lacked substantial   
   evidence that Poole was the person who broke into the home.   
   (State v. Poole, 203 S.E.2d 786 (N.C. 1974)).   
      
   1975 3. Wilbert Lee Florida Conviction 1963 Released 1975   
   4. Freddie Pitts Florida Conviction 1963 Released 1975   
   Although no physical evidence linked them to the deaths of two   
   white men, Lee and Pitts' guilty pleas, the testimony of an   
   alleged eyewitness, and incompetent defense counsel led to their   
   convictions. The men were sentenced to death but maintained their   
   innocence. After their convictions, another man confessed to the   
   crime, the eyewitness recanted her accusations, and the state   
   Attorney General admitted that the state had unlawfully   
   suppressed evidence. The men were granted a new trial (Pitts v.   
   State 247 So.2d 53 (Fla. 1971)) but were again convicted and   
   sentenced to death. They were released in 1975 when they received   
   a full pardon from Governor Askew, who stated he was   
   "sufficiently convinced that they were innocent." (Florida   
   Times-Union, 4/23/98).   
      
   5. James Creamer Georgia Conviction 1973 Released 1975   
   Creamer was sentenced to death for a murder allegedly committed   
   with six other individuals who were sentenced to life. (Cobb   
   Superior Court, Cobb County, Georgia, Certified record)1 After an   
   investigation by the Atlanta Constitution, a federal judge   
   declared that the prosecution had withheld and destroyed   
   evidence, a witness admitted she had lied in court, and another   
   man confessed to the crimes (Emmett v. Ricketts, 397 F. Supp 1025   
   (N.D. Ga. 1975)). The convictions against all seven men were   
   overturned, and charges were later dropped.   
   1An appellate judge in a related case stated that all seven   
   individuals in this case were sentenced to life. The Clerk of the   
   Cobb Superior Court has certified that Creamer alone was   
   originally sentenced to death. Creamer was resentenced to life in   
   prison in September 1973.   
      
   1976 6. Thomas Gladish New Mexico Conviction 1974 Released 1976   
   7. Richard Greer New Mexico Conviction 1974 Released 1976   
   8. Ronald Keine New Mexico Conviction 1974 Released 1976   
   9. Clarence Smith New Mexico Conviction 1974 Released 1976   
   The four were convicted of murder, kidnapping, sodomy, and rape   
   and were sentenced to death. A subsequent investigation by the   
   Detroit News uncovered lies by the prosecution's star witness,   
   perjured identification given under police pressure, and the use   
   of poorly administered lie detector tests. A state district judge   
   dismissed the original indictments and the men were released   
   after the murder weapon was traced to a drifter from South   
   Carolina who admitted to the killing. (Detroit News Magazine,   
   1/11/76 and Detroit News, 12/16/75).   
      
   1977 10. Delbert Tibbs Florida Conviction 1974 Conviction   
   overturned 1977   
   Tibbs was sentenced to death for the rape of a sixteen-year-old   
   white girl and the murder of her companion. Tibbs, a black   
   theological student, was convicted by an all-white jury on the   
   testimony of the female victim whose testimony was uncorroborated   
   and inconsistent with her first description of her assailant. The   
   conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court because   
   the verdict was not supported by the weight of the evidence, and   
   the state decided not to retry the case. Tibbs' former prosecutor   
   said that the original investigation had been tainted from the   
   beginning and that if there was a retrial, he would appear as a   
   witness for Tibbs. (Tibbs v. State, 337 So.2d 788 (Fla. 1976)).   
      
   1978 11. Earl Charles Georgia Conviction 1975 Released 1978   
   Charles was convicted on two counts of murder and sentenced to   
   death. He was released when evidence was found that substantiated   
   his alibi. (State v. Charles, No. 23,392 (Ga. Super. Ct.,   
   7/5/78)). After an investigation, the district attorney announced   
   that he would not retry the case. Charles won a substantial   
   settlement from city officials for misconduct in the original   
   investigation.   
      
   12. Jonathan Treadaway Arizona Conviction 1975 Released 1978   
   Treadaway was convicted of sodomy and first degree murder of a   
   six-year-old and sentenced to death. The conviction was   
   overturned, and he was acquitted of all charges at retrial by the   
   jury after 5 pathologists testified that the victim probably died   
   of natural causes and that there was no evidence of sodomy.   
   Members of the jury reported noted that prosecutors had failed to   
   prove that Treadaway was even inside the victims' home. (State v.   
   Treadaway, 568 P.2d 1061 (1977))   
      
   1979 13. Gary Beeman Ohio Conviction 1976 Acquitted 1979   
   Beeman was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death.   
   He maintained that he was innocent and that Claire Liuzzo, an   
   escaped prisoner who testified as the main prosecution witness at   
   Beeman's first trial, was the actual killer. In 1978 the District   
   Court of Appeals granted Beeman a new trial, finding that   
   Beeman's right to cross-examine Liuzzo had been unfairly   
   restricted at his first trial. On retrial five witnesses   
   testified that they heard Liuzzo confess to the murder and Beeman   
   was acquitted.   
      
   1980 14. Jerry Banks Georgia Conviction 1975 Conviction   
   overturned 1980   
   Sentenced to death for two counts of murder. Banks' conviction   
   was overturned on the basis of newly discovered evidence which   
   was allegedly known to the state. (Banks v. State, 218 S.E.2d 851   
   (Ga. 1975)). Banks committed suicide after his wife divorced him.   
   His estate won a settlement from the county for the benefit of   
   his children.   
      
   15. Larry Hicks Indiana Conviction 1978 Acquitted 1980   
   Hicks was convicted on two counts of murder and was sentenced to   
   death. Two weeks prior to his scheduled execution, with the help   
   of a volunteer attorney, Hicks received a stay. The Playboy   
   Foundation became interested in this claim of innocence and   
      
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