Michigan had 2nd highest number of wrongful conviction exonerations in 2020
By Amber Ainsworth
Only one other state exonerated more people in 2020. Illinois had 22. Nationally, 129 people were exonerated.
Twelve of Michigan’s exonerations were people convicted of murder, three were for attempted murder, two were for child abuse, one was for robbery, one was for assault, and one was for selling or possessing drugs.
The National Registry of Exonerations credits Wayne County’s Conviction Integrity Unit as a driving force behind the state’s number of overturned convictions. The unit helped with 13 of the exonerations.
The county’s CIU investigates if there is new evidence proving that a convicted person did not commit a crime.