11 States with Highest Number of Exonerations

7. Ohio

Number of exonerated convicts: 54

Exonerated convict who served the longest time in prison: Ricky Jackson, Ronnie Bridgeman, and Wiley Bridgeman (39 years)

In 1975, Ricky Jackson, Ronnie Bridgeman, and Wiley Bridgeman were sentenced to death for murder and robbery. Since there was no physical evidence which connected three men with the crime, the prosecutor built up the case relying entirely on a testimony of 13-year old boy, Eddie Vernon, who placed defendants at the crime scene. Although boy’s story was inconsistent, the jury decided that three men were guilty beyond the reasonable doubt. The initial death sentence was later commuted to life in prison.

In 2011, Kyle Swenson, a reporter at Cleveland Scene magazine, wrote an article exposing flaws during the trial, including inconsistency in Vernon’s testimony and the fact that there was no evidence connecting three men with the crime. The article prompted lawyers from Ohio Innocence Project to re-investigate the case and file motions for new trials. Among other things lawyers discovered that “Vernon attempted to recant his identification of the three defendants” but police threatened him that they would arrest his parents for perjury if he backed up. On Jackson’s trial, Vernon said: “I don’t have any knowledge about what happened at the scene of the crime. Everything was a lie. They were all lies.”

In 2014, all three men were exonerated. Jackson received $1 million in compensation while Bridgeman and Ajamu were jointly compensated by $1.6 million.

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