Exoneration

Exoneration occurs when the conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate individuals are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially where new evidence is put forth after the execution has taken place. The transitive verb, "to exonerate" can also mean to informally absolve one from blame. Definitions vary among legal systems and researchers, and terms including exoneration, wrongful conviction, miscarriage of justice, and innocence are sometimes used inconsistently or interchangeably. Some researchers distinguish exoneration from the reversal of a conviction on ordinary appeal, limiting the term to cases in which a final conviction was subsequently overturned through a post-conviction re-examination.

The term "exoneration" also is used in civil and nonlegal circumstances to indicate that a person once believed to have engaged in wrongdoing has been demonstrated not to have so engaged; and in criminal law to indicate a surety, i.e. bail bond has been satisfied, completed, and exonerated. In the latter case, the judge orders the bond exonerated; the clerk of court time stamps the original bail bond power and indicates exonerated as the judicial order.

Based on DNA evidence

DNA evidence is a relatively new instrument of exoneration. The first convicted defendant from a United States prison to be released on account of DNA testing was David Vasquez, who had been convicted of homicide, in 1989.