In the course of researching the outcome of every death sentence since 1973 – more than 9,600 death sentences nationwide – DPIC identified 11 cases not previously included on the innocence list in which people who had been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death were later exonerated. Read more about the cases below. John Thomas Alford North Carolina Conviction: 1975, Acquitted: 1976 John Thomas Alford was convicted and sentenced to death in 1975. Alford was tried with a codefendant who confessed to the murder. Alford presented evidence and witnesses that he was not at the scene of the crime, but he was not allowed to offer his codefendant’s confession as evidence of his innocence. The North Carolina Supreme Court reversed his conviction and sentence and ordered Alford be retried separately from his codefendant. At retrial, he was acquitted of all charges.