JAILED BUT INNOCENT... A LOOK INTO WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS

The convictions ranged from lower level offenses, such as 47 drug crimes, to major felonies, including 54 murder convictions that were overturned. Five of the convicts were awaiting execution, and were saved last year when courts ruled they didn't belong in the prison in the first place. How sad.

Luis Vargas, who was in prison for 16 years, reacts in court as he is exonerated Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via AP

Of the people wrongly convicted for homicides, the report notes, "more than two-thirds were minorities, including half who were African American." 

Twenty-seven of the innocent convicts falsely confessed to their crimes, a group comprised mainly of children or the mentally handicapped, according to the report.

Falsely Accused

"I feel that if I die this afternoon, I'll be able to go to my tomb and rest in peace because my name has finally been cleared," said William Vasquez, who was cleared in December of an arson that killed a mother and her five children in 1981. 

Vasquez already served 31 years in prison, where he went blind for untreated glaucoma, and was released in 2012. He even had an alibi witness at trial, who testified he was with her when the fire was set, but the building owner, Hannah Quick, accused him of the arson. She recanted shortly before her death in 2014.

 

Jackson and two other co-defendants who were also wrongly convicted in the case were freed after a key witness, Edward Vernon, recanted his testimony two years ago claiming the trio shot and robbed money order salesman Harold Franks. Vernon, who was 12 at the time of the shooting, said he had been coerced by detectives. 

"His statement implicating Mr. Jackson was a complete fabrication created by the detectives," the lawsuit alleges.

 Three of the detectives and one sergeant named in Jackson's lawsuit have died in the years since his arrest. A spokesman for the city of Cleveland told NBC News that officials aren't commenting on pending litigation.

There are countless cases of wrongful convictions, worse hit is Nigeria, no reviews are done to determine  if these convictions are truly right. The moment you are remanded in prison you are expected to stay up to 2-5 years in awaiting trial. 70% of Nigerians in prison custody are either innocent or have spent the number of years they would have spent if convicted.  Why does this happen? Human life is of no value in Nigeria.