This section provides information about people who have been exonerated in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.  These case profiles are the stories of people whose lives were taken from them as a result of wrongful convictions, but who managed to work within the system and free themselves from prison through post-conviction DNA testing or other evidence.

Cases like these are becoming more common as more innocent people are able to prove their innocence through post-conviction testing. They do not demonstrate, however, that our judicial system is becoming more effective and just.  Rather, they highlight the problems that are continuing to occur.  Typical causes of wrongful convictions, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, mistaken identifications, false confessions, police/prosecutorial misconduct and manipulation, and junk science have resulted in an unknown number of innocent people wrongly imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.  While these case profiles of exonerated individuals provide inspiration for those innocent people suffering in prison and for our lawmakers, they also represent the countless other individuals who have not had the opportunity to fight for their freedom.

To learn more about the causes of wrongful convictions, please go to the “Facts” portion of our website.

The following people have been exonerated in our region.  Please click on the names below to read more information about each case.

District of Columbia

Edward Bell
Michael Damien Joseph Wayne Eastridge and Joseph Nick Sousa
Steven Dewitt
Donald Gates
Edward Green
Aaron Michael Howard

Maryland

Michael Austin
Kirk Bloodsworth
Chris Conover
Cornel Estes
Anthony Gray
Gordy Marsh
Antione Pettiford
Henry Myron Roberts
Leslie Vass
Bernard Webster

Virginia

Marvin Anderson
Craig Bell
Victor Burnette
Jeffrey Cox
Willie Davidson
Joe Dick, Derek Tice, Danial Williams and Eric Wilson (The Norfolk Four)
Russell Gray
Edward Honaker
Beverly Monroe
Julius Ruffin
Walter Snyder
Philip Thurman
David Vasquez
Earl Washington
Troy Webb
Arthur Whitfield