Exonerees Profiles
The following are profiles of the men exonerated by Innocence Project New Orleans as well as the additional men and women exonerated in Louisiana and Mississippi with the help of others.
IPNO Clients - Exonerated
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Michael WilliamsExonerated: 2011Michael Williams was exonerated on November 18, 2011 after spending 15 years and eight months in prison for a murder he did not commit. Check back for a full profile soon. View » |
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Henry JamesExonerated: 2011Henry James was wrongfully convicted of aggravated rape in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana in 1982, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. IPNO—working with the New York Innocence Project and the New York firm Willkie Farr &... View » |
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Glenn DavisExonerated: 2010Glenn Davis, along with two co-defendants, Larry Delmore and Terrence Meyers, was arrested in 1992, convicted in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the second-degree murder of Samuel George in Westwego, Louisiana. Their... View » |
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Terrence MeyersExonerated: 2010Glenn Davis, Larry Delmore and Terrence Meyers were arrested in 1992, convicted in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the second-degree murder of Samuel George in Westwego, Louisiana. Their conviction was based exclusively on one... View » |
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Jimmie BassExonerated: 2010Jimmie Bass was wrongfully convicted in Cleveland, Mississippi in 1988 for aggravated assault and armed robbery. Mr. Bass was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He was 18 years old when arrested and 36 years old when released – having spent half his life behind bars. ... View » |
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Phillip BivensExonerated: 2010Phillip Bivens, along with two co-defendants, Bobby Ray Dixon and Larry Ruffin, was wrongfully convicted in Forrest County, Mississippi in 1980 of rape and murder. He confessed to the crime and then pled guilty to avoid the death penalty. View » |
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Larry DelmoreExonerated: 2010Larry Delmore, along with co-defendants, Terrence Meyers and Glenn Davis, was arrested in 1992, convicted in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the second-degree murder of Samuel George in Westwego, Louisiana. Their... View » |
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Bobby Ray DixonExonerated: 2010Bobby Ray Dixon, along with two co-defendants, Phillip Bivens and Larry Ruffin, was wrongfully convicted in Forrest County, Mississippi in 1980 of a rape and murder. He confessed to the crime and then pled guilty to avoid the death penalty. Tragically, the... View » |
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Anthony JohnsonExonerated: 2010In 1986, Anthony Johnson was wrongfully convicted of the 1984 stabbing of his girlfriend. His conviction came as a result of police withholding key information, now-discredited forensic testimony, an alleged statement by Mr. Johnson, and an ineffective lawyer. ... View » |
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Larry RuffinExonerated: 2010Larry Ruffin was wrongfully convicted in Forrest County, Mississippi in 1980 of rape and murder. Tragically, the only witness to the murder was the victim’s 4-year-old son, Luke, who consistently described one man in his house who raped and killed his mother. View » |
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Arthur JohnsonExonerated: 2008After a young woman was awoken by an intruder in her family’s home and raped in the early hours of the morning, she identified Arthur Johnson as her assailant. Mr. Johnson was then arrested for burglary and aggravated rape on July 9, 1992 in Sunflower County, Mississippi... View » |
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Allen H. CocoExonerated: 2006Allen H. Coco was arrested in 1995 for aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated burglary and one count of simple burglary. The only evidence against Mr. Coco was a highly suspect cross-racial identification and blood evidence that was subject only to a broad... View » |
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Travis HayesExonerated: 2006Travis Hayes spent 10 years—from age 17 to age 26—in prison for a murder he did not commit. He was arrested while driving with his friend, Ryan Matthews, several hours after a masked gunman had shot and killed Tommy Vanhoose, owner of Comeaux's grocery store in... View » |
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Cedric WillisExonerated: 2006In mid-1994, a spree of armed robberies occurred across Jackson, Mississippi. Despite a lack of any physical evidence, in June 1994, Cedric Willis, then just 19 years old, was arrested for two of the robberies. One included the rape of a woman and another included... View » |
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Dan BrightExonerated: 2004Dan Bright was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Murray Barnes. He spent nine years in prison, four of which were on death row, before his conviction was overturned. Mr. Bright was represented by a lawyer who did not investigate the case and was drunk during... View » |
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Dennis BrownExonerated: 2004In 1984, 17-year-old Dennis Brown, who spent his time taking care of his blind and ailing father, volunteered to be a “filler" in a police line-up that was being presented to a rape victim. The line-up was being administered despite the fact that she had only seen her... View » |
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Earl TruviaExonerated: 2003Earl Truvia and his co-defendant Greg Bright were convicted in 1975 of the second-degree murder of Eliot Porter in New Orleans' Calliope Housing Project and sentenced to life without parole. At the time, Mr. Truvia was 17 years-old and Mr. Bright was 20. Until they were... View » |
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Gregory BrightExonerated: 2003Greg Bright and his co-defendant, Earl Truvia, were convicted in 1975 of the second-degree murder of Eliot Porter in the New Orleans Calliope Housing Project. They were sentenced to life without parole. At the time, Mr. Bright was 20 years old and Mr. Truvia was 17.... View » |
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Dwight LabranExonerated: 2001In 1997, Dwight Labran, a 24 year-old black man with no prior convictions, was convicted of first-degree murder in New Orleans. The only purported witness to the killing was the owner of the car in which the body was found. View » |
Additional Exonerations (Louisiana & Mississippi)
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Matthew NorwoodExonerated: 2010Matthew Norwood was exonerated on October 6, 2010, after Hinds County Judge Winston L. Kidd agreed that recently discovered evidence showed Norwood had not been involved in a 1995 armed robbery for which he ultimately served 15 years in prison. To learn more visit... View » |
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Kennedy BrewerExonerated: 2008In 1992, Kennedy Brewer was arrested in Mississippi and accused of killing his girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter. After waiting in jail for three years for a trial to begin, Brewer was convicted of capital murder and sent to Mississippi’s death row. To learn... View » |
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Levon BrooksExonerated: 2008Levon Brooks served 16 years in Mississippi prisons for a 1990 rape and murder of a three-year-old girl he didn't commit. In 2008, DNA testing cleared another man, Kennedy Brewer, who had been sentenced to death for a nearly identical murder that happened in the same... View » |
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Rickie JohnsonExonerated: 2008Rickie Johnson served 25 years in Louisiana prison for a rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing proved his innocence and exonerated him. To learn more, visit the Innocence Project's Web site... View » |
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Willie JacksonExonerated: 2006On May 26, 2006, Willie Jackson was exonerated after postconviction DNA testing proved his innocence of a 1986 sexual assault. To learn more, visit the Innocence Project's Web site... View » |
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Michael Anthony WilliamsExonerated: 2005Michael Anthony Williams spent nearly 24 years in prison before postconviction DNA testing proved that he was not the perpetrator of a brutal rape. To learn more, visit the Innocence Project's Web site... View » |
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Ryan MatthewsExonerated: 2004Ryan Matthews spent five years on Louisiana's death row for a crime he did not commit. Seventeen years old at the time he was arrested, Matthews was sentenced to death for the shooting death of Tommy Vanhoose, a convenience store owner, in Bridge City, Louisiana. DNA... View » |
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Cheryle BeridonExonerated: 2003 (Pardon)Cheryle Beridon spent 20 years in prison in Louisiana after being framed by Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Norval Rhodes. Ms. Beridon was having an affair with Mr. Rhodes; but when she refused to see him after the relationship soured he threatened her with... View » |
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Douglas DiLosaExonerated: 2003In 1986, Douglas DiLosa was found by police in his home, bound with the same rope that had earlier been used to strangle his wife, Glinda DiLosa. Mr. DiLosa told the police that early in the morning he was woken up by noises coming from downstairs. When he went to... View » |
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John "JT" ThompsonExonerated: 2003In 1985, John “JT” Thompson was wrongfully convicted of two crimes: the attempted armed robbery of a university student and his two siblings; and the murder of Raymond T. Liuzza, Jr. In both cases, prosecutors did not disclose critical evidence that, had the jury... View » |
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Gene BibbonsExonerated: 2003In March 2003, Gene Bibbins became the 125th person in the United States to be exonerated by postconviction DNA testing. Bibbins had spent more than 15 years in prison for a 1986 rape that he did not commit. To learn more, visit the Innocence Project Web site... View » |
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Calvin WillisExonerated: 2003Postconviction DNA testing excluded Willis as the perpetrator of a 1981 rape for which he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. To learn more, visit the Innocence Project's Web site... View » |
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Albert Ronnie BurrellExonerated: 2001Albert Ronnie Burrell and his co-defendant, Michael Ray Graham Jr., were wrongly convicted of a robbery and double murder of Callie and William Delton Frost in Union Parish, Louisiana in 1987. They faced the death penalty for the crime and yet the State of... View » |
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Michael Ray Graham, Jr.Exonerated: 2000Michael Ray Graham, Jr. and his co-defendant Albert Ronnie Burrell were wrongfully convicted of a robbery and double murder of Callie and William Delton Frost in Union Parish, Louisiana in 1987. They faced the death penalty for the crime and yet the State of... View » |
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Shareef CousinExonerated: 1999Shareef Cousin was just 16 years old when he was sentenced to death for the 1996 Orleans Parish murder of 25-year-old Michael Gerardi. Mr. Gerardi was on a date with Connie Babin on the evening of the murder. The State’s primary witness, Ms. Babin, who was not... View » |
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Clyde CharlesExonerated: 1999Clyde Charles was convicted of aggravated rape on June 22, 1982, and was sentenced to life in prison at the Angola penitentiary. To learn more, visit the Innocence Project's Web site... View » |
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Curtis KylesExonerated: 1998Curtis Kyles was 24 when he was arrested for a murder based on information given to police by someone who, evidence later showed, was likely the real killer. On September 20, 1984, 60-year-old Dolores Dye left the Schwegmann Brothers' store in New Orleans... View » |
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Hayes WilliamsExonerated: 1997Hayes Williams was just 19 years old and had no prior convictions when he was implicated in a 1967 Orleans Parish gunfight between two of his acquaintances (John Duplessis and Larry Hudson) and a gas station owner. Although Mr. Williams had only been a bystander... View » |
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Gerald BurgeExonerated: 1992Gerald Burge was convicted of the murder of Douglas Frierson, who was shot to death in 1980 in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. As the investigation developed, evidence came to light that indicated Mr. Burge’s innocence. Despite the evidence, the police officer... View » |
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Isaac KnapperExonerated: 1991Isaac Knapper, at the time an Olympic boxing hopeful, was arrested in 1979 at age 16 for the murder of a tourist, Dr. Ronald Banks, in the French Quarter. The case was investigated by Det. John Dillman of the New Orleans Police Department, later to be singled out... View » |
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