Who Is Blamed for the Wrongful Conviction? The total number of people blamed is 372_ The number of articles in which someone is blamed is 334 because within a single article there may be multiple instances of blame_
| Blamed | |
|---|---|
| Individual Actor | 221 (59.4%) |
| The State | 137 (36.8%) |
| The Exoneree | 1 (3.8%) |
| Total | 372 |
Attributing Blame for the Wrongful Convictions
| Attribute Blame | |
|---|---|
| Yes | 334 (32.2%) |
| No | 702 (67.8%) |
Who Questions Innocence?
| Speakers Questioning Innocence | DNA Cases | Non-DNA Cases |
|---|---|---|
| State | 37 (90.4%) | 129 (66.5%) |
| Advocate of Victim | 2 (4.8%) | 32 (16.5%) |
| Juror | 1 (2.4%) | 6 (3.1%) |
| Citizen | 1 (2.4%) | 23 (11.8%) |
| Newspaper | 0 (0.0%) | 4 (2.1%) |
| Total Number of Speakers Questioning Innocence | 41 | 194 |
Use of the word “Exoneration”_
| Use of word “Exoneration” | |
|---|---|
| Yes | 426 (24.8%) |
| No | 1,291 (75.2%) |
| Total | 1,717 |
Questioning the Exoneree's Innocence In this and subsequent tables we focus on the subset of articles which contain some explanation or argument about why someone was released from death row_
| Innocence Questioned | |
|---|---|
| Yes | 235 (22.7%) |
| No | 801 (77.3%) |
| Total | 1,036 |
Who Questions Innocence? The total here is larger than the 235 articles in which innocence is questioned because those articles may contain more than one instance in which that occurs_
| Speaker | Percentage of Times Innocence is Questioned |
|---|---|
| State | 177 (68.3%) |
| Advocate for Victim | 45 (17.5%) |
| Juror | 7 (2.7%) |
| Citizen | 26 (10%) |
| Newspaper | 4 (1.5%) |
| Total of Speakers who Questioned Innocence | 259 |
Questioning Innocence in DNA Exonerations
| Innocence Questioned | |
|---|---|
| DNA Case | 41 (17.5%) |
| Non-DNA Case | 194 (82.5%) |
| Total Number of Articles in Which Innocence is Questioned | 235 |
Who Attributes Blame?
| Speakers doing the Blaming | |
|---|---|
| State | 51 (13.7%) |
| Advocate of Victim | 4 (1.1%) |
| Juror | 1 (0.3%) |
| Citizen | 37 (9.9%) |
| Newspaper Reporter | 134 (36%) |
| Exoneree or His/Her Advocate | 145 (39%) |
| Total Number of Speakers Attributing Blame | 372 |