Dictionary Definition
exonerated adj : freed from any question of
guilt; "is absolved from all blame"; "was now clear of the charge
of cowardice"; "his official honor is vindicated" [syn: absolved, clear, cleared, exculpated, vindicated]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Adjective
exoneratedVerb
exonerated- past of exonerate
Extensive Definition
Exoneration occurs when a person who has been
convicted
of a crime is later proved
to have been innocent of that crime. Attempts to exonerate convicts
are particularly controversial in death
penalty cases, especially where new evidence is put forth after
the execution has taken place. The first convict from a United
States' prison to be released on account of DNA testing was
David
Vasquez, in 1989. Recently,
DNA evidence
has been used to exonerate a number of persons either on death row or
serving lengthy prison sentences. As of October,
2003, the number of states authorizing convicts to request DNA
testing on their behalf, since 1999, has increased from two to
thirty. Access to DNA testing varies greatly by degree;
post-conviction tests can be difficult to acquire. Organizations
like the Innocence
Project are particularly concerned with the exoneration of
those who have been convicted based on weak evidence. As of October
2003, prosecutors of criminal cases must approve the defendant's
request for DNA testing in certain cases. In other contexts, to
exonerate can mean simply to free somebody from blame or guilt: to
declare officially that somebody is not to blame or is not guilty
of wrongdoing.
Monday, April 23, 2007, Jerry Miller became the
200th person in the United States exonerated through the use of DNA
evidence. There is a national campaign in support of the formation
of state Innocence Commissions, statewide entities that identify
causes of wrongful convictions and develop state reforms that can
improve the criminal justice system.
The term exoneration also is used in criminal law
to indicate a surety bail bond has been satisfied, completed, and
exonerated. The judge orders the bond exonerated; the clerk of
court time stamps the original bail bond power and indicates
exonerated as the judicial order.