Introduction
In 1997 I began compiling a database of wrongfully incarcerated people who have been arrested and/or convicted of a crime and later proven innocent. This database now contains 360 people who were innocent, yet convicted of a crime - many were sentenced to death.

As a physician, I'm interested in improving the quality of my diagnosis and treatment. I strive to manage my patients and their illnesses accurately and effectively. One way I better my effectiveness is to review mistakes and adjust behavior. No one likes to be wrong, but the process of examining a bad outcome makes me a better physician.

When a plane crashes, the FAA investigates; when a patient dies during surgery, the hospital probes; if a patient adversely reacts to a vaccine, the physician is required to report the occurrence to the CDC.

The criminal justice system does not operate this way. Many agencies exist to investigate crimes and prosecute criminals, but no entity exists to investigate the injustice of wrongful conviction. Authorities in the criminal justice system make no effort to collect, organize and review their mistakes.

The typical wrongfully convicted innocent is quietly released, with no ceremony, or apology, or assurance that a similar mistake may be prevented in the future.

This database was created so that some of the errors within the criminal justice system can be remembered, examined and, hopefully, not repeated. I believe this is the largest collection of innocent people falsely convicted of a crime, in the United States and Canada. Cases are included only when there is evidence that the falsely convicted person is innocent, not simply, "not guilty." Establishing innocence can be done with DNA evidence, a solid alibi, finding the actual culprit or even finding the actual "murder victim" alive, just to name a few.

Wrongful Patterns
When the cases are categorized and reviewed, patterns emerge. Analysis shows that wrongful convictions happen because of:

• Erroneous Eyewitness Identification
• False Confession
• False Informant
• Official Misconduct
• Rigid Thinking

This site contains the database, case summaries, explanations of the errors mentioned above, a look at DNA's implications in the justice system, and links for further study.

This database includes all known cases of the wrongfully convicted. If you are aware of others, please send me an email (click on Contact Dr. Higgins). Include the reference so the information can be verified. A case must be reported in an accessible public document and the person must have been released from custody to be included in this database. Also, if you are aware of any errors in this database, please contact me.

This web site is dedicated to understanding and learning from errors in the criminal justice system. The purpose of the database is to track the ever-growing number of the wrongfully convicted, identify and understand the associated mistakes and hope that, somehow, this information may be used to prevent another error. It will be updated regularly.