11 States with Highest Number of Exonerations

1. Texas

Number of exonerated convicts: 241

Exonerated convict who served the longest time in prison: Robert Carroll Coney (42 years)

In Texas, which ranks as first on our list 11 states with the highest number of exonerations, 241 convicts were exonerated.

Robert Carroll Coney spent 42 years behind bars after police coerced him to admit the crime he did not commit. Upon release from the Angelina County jail, Coney said he was not bitter: ”Anger is not going to solve anything,”, adding: ”I believe in the system.”

However, it seems that this African American, who was 33 at the time of the crime, was failed by the system more than a few times. First he was arrested for arm robbery, a crime he did not commit. Then police beaten him, threatened to shoot him and broke his fingers between cell bars, a practice that was common at the time as a mean of extracting confession. Coney pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.

Coney spent next 37 years in futile attempts to escape from prison for good. Every time he managed to break free, he was recaptured and put back behind bars. He was also charged and sentenced for other crimes, including counterfeiting checks and an assault, crimes he did commit. NRE documents that in 1973, Coney “filed a writ seeking dismissal of the 1966 Texas robbery charges”. Although the writ was granted, no one notified Coney about the decision and it was never carried out. In 2003, he filed a new writ and this time, robbery conviction was vacated. At the time of release Coney was 76 years old.

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