Conviction review
Convictions that were overturned, and innocence claims courts are ruling on this week. Read what the evidence was and where it broke.
Steven Avery
Steven Allan Avery (born July 9, 1962) is an American from Manitowoc County, Wisconsin who was convicted of murder in 2007. He had previously been wrongfully convicted in 1985 of sexual assault and attempted murder. After serving 18 years of a 32-year sentence (six of those years being concurrent with a kidnapping sentence), Avery was exonerated by DNA testing and released in 2003, only to be charged with murder in…
Year unknown · WisconsinOverturned
Robert Lee Stinson case
Robert Lee Stinson is an innocent Wisconsin man who was charged with the rape and murder of a 63-year-old woman, Ione Cychosz. Cychosz’ body was discovered in a vacant lot close to Stinson's backyard. Bite marks that were left on the body were analyzed by Lowell T. Johnson, a forensic dentist, who advised that the bites were left by someone missing their front tooth.
2006 · WisconsinOverturnedGeorgia Thompson
Georgia L. Thompson (born c. 1950) is a Wisconsin civil servant who was wrongfully convicted of federal corruption charges in 2006, then exonerated by an appeals court in 2007. Thompson is a Madison native, and graduated from Madison East High School in 1968.
2003 · WisconsinExonerated 2003Steven Avery
In 2003, Steven Avery was exonerated of a 1985 rape conviction in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. DNA testing excluded him as the source of biological evidence and pointed to another man who had been convicted of a different sexual assault.
1996 · WisconsinExonerated 1996Fredric Saecker
In 1990, Fredric Saecker was wrongly convicted of a sexual assault and kidnapping in Wisconsin. He was later exonerated in 1996.
1997 · WisconsinExonerated 1997Anthony Hicks
In 1991, Anthony Hicks was wrongly convicted of a rape he did not commit in Wisconsin. He was later exonerated in 1997.
2018 · WisconsinExonerated 2018Richard Beranek
Richard Beranek was wrongly convicted of a sexual assault based on eyewitness misidentification, official misconduct, and misapplied forensic evidence.
2009 · WisconsinExonerated 2009Ralph Armstrong
Ralph Armstrong served more than 28 years in Wisconsin prisons for murder before a judge overturned his conviction in 2009.