The Innocent Man: DNA Testing and the Death Penalty in Arkansas.
By: Paige Topping
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect views of the Journal, the William H. Bowen School of Law, or 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock
This quote was given by an Arkansas native, Ledell Lee, one day before he was executed by the State of Arkansas. Mr. Lee鈥檚 execution, however, was just one of many scheduled executions in Arkansas in 2017, largely due to the expiration of a drug known as that is used in lethal injections. The expiration of the drug midazolam sent the state of Arkansas into a frenzy and resulted in . This rush to execute incarcerated persons over the availability of a drug, and the reluctance to conduct necessary DNA and other forensic testing, resulted in the unthinkable 鈥� the execution of an innocent man.
While Governor Asa Hutchinson claimed that the rush in executions was a part of his , he failed this duty when he prioritized the lifespan of a drug over DNA testing that could have saved Mr. Lee鈥檚 life.
At the time of Mr. Lee鈥檚 trial in 1995, . However, as DNA testing technology improved, Mr. Lee sought to have the evidence tested, and specifically made this request While other inmates that made similar requests were , Mr. Lee鈥檚 request was denied, and the evidence collected at the scene remained untested.
However, four years after Mr. Lee鈥檚 execution, in order to have the DNA evidence posthumously tested. The request for testing was granted by the , and the testing that should have been conducted twenty years prior, finally took place in 2021. The results of the testing conclusively showed that , did not match Mr. Lee, but belonged to some other unidentified male. Additionally, other forensic testing showed that none of the collected at the scene matched Mr. Lee. Thus, the results of the testing revealed what Mr. Lee had maintained all along 鈥� that he was an innocent man.
Mr. Lee, however, was not the first, and will not be the last innocent person executed on death row. While there is no way to tell just how many innocent men and women have been wrongly executed, data suggests that sentenced to death row are innocent 鈥� with over having been exonerated since 1973. These statistics demonstrate the failure of the criminal justice system to adequately utilize the forensic testing available to ensure that persons being executed are actually guilty of the crimes for which they have been convicted.
The importance of this form of testing cannot be understated. If the state of Arkansas had taken the time to examine the crime scene evidence during the twenty-two years in which Mr. Lee was incarcerated, or examined the evidence upon his request, Mr. Lee would still be here today. It is unconscionable that the state of Arkansas, or any state for that matter, is legally allowed to execute incarcerated persons without conducting the necessary DNA and forensic testing to ensure that those persons are actually guilty of the crimes for which they have been convicted. Without such mandatory testing, Arkansas risks executing more innocent persons like Mr. Lee.