11 States with Highest Number of Exonerations

10. Wisconsin

Number of exonerated convicts: 43

Exonerated convict who served the longest time in prison: Ralph Armstrong (28 years)

Ralph Armstrong served 28 years in prison after prosecutor used all means to build up the case against him. Although evidence pointed that Armstrong did not commit the crime for which he spent almost three decades behind bars, he was guilty of other serious offenses.

In 1980, the body of Charise Kamps, 19-year old student, was discovered. The autopsy revealed that the girl was brutally sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled. Victim’s boyfriend Ralph Armstrong was first on the list of suspects since he had a criminal record that included convictions for sodomy and four rapes. Police also interrogated Ralph’s brother, Stephan, but found no evidence that could connect him with the crime. Ralph Armstrong was charged with murder and rape after a witness, who was subjected to hypnosis, said that he saw him entering and leaving victim’s apartment at the time of the murder. In 1981, he was sentenced to life plus 16 years in prison. Thanks to new DNA evidence which showed that hair discovered on victim’s body did not belong to Armstrong, the convict managed to obtain a new trial which led to the charges being dropped. One of the main reasons why charges against Armstrong were dismissed was a discovery that the prosecutor John Norsetter intentionally concealed and destroyed evidence that could prove Armstrong’s innocence. Among other things, he failed to inform defense lawyer about the existence of two witnesses who claimed that Ralph’s brother confessed the crime to them. In 2009, the charges against Armstrong in Kamps’s case were dismissed. However, he did not walk out from prison as a free man. Armstrong was transferred to a jail in New Mexico where he served time for a parole violation connected with previous convictions for rape. In 2013, he was released again on parole.

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