Is there anything more horrific than the execution of a human being for a crime he or she did not commit? In a nation that considers itself the standard bearer for human rights, such an outrageous “mistake” is shameful and unacceptable.
But we must recognize the unconscionable human rights abuses that have been committed against 138 wrongfully convicted men and women in America who have looked death in the face and lived to tell about it. Many experts believe that the education of political leaders and the public about the issues of innocence and wrongful convictions will be the pivotal factor in abolishing the death penalty in America.
Witness to Innocence is the nation’s only organization composed of, by and for exonerated death row survivors and their loved ones. These individuals are actively engaged in the struggle to end the death penalty, challenging the American public to grapple with the problem of a fatally flawed criminal justice system that sends innocent people to death row.
“It's difficult to describe what it is like to serve time on death row knowing you are innocent. All you know is that what seems like an awful nightmare is now reality, a reality beyond comprehension.”
– Ray Krone, who spent more than 10 years in prison, including three on death row, for a crime he did not commit. Ray is Director of Communications and Training for Witness to Innocence.
Members of Witness to Innocence bring a human face to the death penalty that no one else can. Through their compelling stories, they illuminate the unfairness and immorality of capital punishment – and in turn move citizens and public opinion more than any ordinary politician or activist can ever hope to do. Since its creation in 2005, Witness to Innocence has played an essential role in the anti-death penalty movement in the United States while educating hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
Witness to Innocence was instrumental in the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois in 2011, New Mexico in 2009 and New Jersey in 2007. We also were a critical part of Wisconsin’s effective 2006 campaign to prevent the reinstatement of the death penalty. Witness to Innocence has organized hundreds of successful speaking events in communities throughout the United States and has reached millions of individuals through the media, highlighting the issue of wrongful convictions and the death penalty. We also have coordinated highly publicized speaking tours in North Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, Ohio, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.
One of Witness to Innocence’s primary goals is to empower death row survivors and their loved ones to be effective leaders in the movement to abolish the death penalty. We also provide an essential network of peer support for these individuals as they respond to the challenges and opportunities of life after exoneration.
To read testimonials from Witness to Innocence speaking events and partners from other organizations, click here.
Freddie Lee Pitts was convicted of murdering two white men and sentenced to Florida’s death row in 1963, despite the fact that no physical evidence linked him to the crimes. He maintained his innocence, and after his conviction, another man confessed to the crime, an eyewitness recanted her accusations, and the state Attorney General admitted that the state had unlawfully suppressed evidence. He was released after spending 12 years in prison when he received a full pardon from then-Governor Rubin Askew. Freddie, a longtime spokesperson against the death penalty, lives in Miami Shores, Florida.
Randy Steidl spent 17 years in Illinois prisons, including 12 on death row before his exoneration in 2004. He was wrongly convicted and sentenced to die for the 1986 murders of Dyke and Karen Rhoads before an Illinois State Police investigation in 2000 found that local police had severely botched their investigation. Since his release, Randy has been extremely active in the anti-death penalty movement, speaking to colleges and state legislatures throughout the United States. His case is the subject of a recently published book, Since When Is Murder Too Politically Sensitive? Randy was instrumental in the repeal of the death penalty in Illinois in 2011.
Nancy Vollertsen is the sister of Greg Wilhoit, who spent six years on Oklahoma’s death row after being wrongfully convicted for the murder of his wife. Greg’s conviction was overturned and he was released in 1991 when 11 forensic experts testified that a bite mark did not belong to him, and he was acquitted at a retrial in April 1993. Both Nancy and Greg have been very active in the movement to end the death penalty in the United States. Nancy lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, and works as a financial aid counselor at a university.
Marshall Dayan is a nationally renowned capital defense attorney who has been instrumental in the movement to abolish the death penalty for more than 20 years. He has represented numerous death row prisoners and has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Marshall lives in Pittsburgh, where he is a Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Gary Drinkard survived almost eight years in prison in Alabama, five of which were spent on death row for a crime he did not commit. Gary is now a member of the Witness to Innocence Speakers Bureau and member of the Witness to Innocence Board of Directors.
Shujaa Graham spent five years on California’s death row before his exoneration in 1981. After learning to read and write in prison, Shujaa has become one of the nation’s most eloquent spokespersons against the death penalty and has traveled throughout the United States and Europe educating the public and counseling youth. He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Phyllis Prentice is the wife of exonerated ex-death row prisoner Shujaa Graham. She is deeply engaged in the criminal justice reform movement and has an extensive background as an activist on numerous social justice issues. A nurse by profession, she lives in Takoma Park, Maryland.
David has more than fifteen years of experience as a community organizer, editor, human rights advocate, journalist, legal advocate, legislative staff person, and executive director. He has extensive experience working with prison issues, police abuse cases, and other human rights issues. He has written and lectured around the world on the issue of the U.S. death penalty.
Previously, David served as the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, working with legislators in the General Assembly in Harrisburg. He also served as law clerk to two federal judges—the Honorable James T. Giles of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Honorable Ronald L. Ellis of the Southern District of New York.
David is also Executive Editor of BlackCommentator.com, and a contributor to the Huffington Post, theGrio (NBC News), Progressive Media Project and the Guardian.
Love received a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies from Harvard College. He also received his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a Certificate in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford.
Andrew Ruggles has a Masters of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He has had a fellowship with the Interfaith Alliance in Washington D.C., a national organization that promotes a healthy relationship between church and state in the United States through lobbying and public education. He also was also involved with the start up of the healthy homes initiative of the Neighborhood Interfaith Movement of Philadelphia, an organization that promotes cooperative efforts for service among houses of worship in Northwest Philadelphia.
Kathy Spillman coordinates all facets of Witness to Innocence's national Speakers Bureau. Kathy has more than 20 years of experience in program development and management for non-profits and higher education institutions, and has won awards for her outreach programs to diverse constituencies, including K-12 students and educators, the U.S. military, community colleges, and the interfaith and arts communities. She has also served as a trainer and consultant for human rights, environmental, and youth advocacy organizations in Macedonia, Ukraine, Armenia, and the Czech Republic (where she was a Fulbright Scholar in 2003), and has taught human rights and civics to middle and high school students in Romania and Poland. She served as the Senior Academic Resource Specialist for the the Close Up Foundation, the nation's largest non-profit, non-partisan civic education organization, where she organized hundreds of seminars and workshops on domestic and foreign policy for high school students, teachers, and senior citizens from around the United States, and was Associate Director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania. She also served as a consultant on public and K-12 education programming for Penn's Graduate School of Education, Camden County College, and the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. Kathy has an MA in International Relations and Arabic from Georgetown University and has traveled to more than 20 extraordinary countries, but thinks Philadelphia is the best city in the world.
Ray Krone is the Director of Communications and Training for Witness to Innocence. Before his exoneration in 2002, Ray spent more than 10 years in Arizona prisons, including nearly three years on death row, for a murder he did not commit. Since then he has spoken throughout the United States and Europe, and has appeared before hundreds of groups, state legislatures and other governmental bodies. He has been featured in People and Parade magazines, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, Goog Morning America and more.
A former Master's student at the Chicago Theology Seminary, Delbert Tibbs was on a self-described spiritual journey, walking across the country, when he was arrested for a rape and murder he did not committ. The witness changed her description of the killer after seeing Polaroid pictures of Delbert, and came close to acknowledging that the actual killer was her ex-boyfriend in court before the judge called a recess. An all-white jury returned a guilty verdict and death sentence in less than two days. With tremendous outside support, Delbert accessed better legal representation and was exonerated from Florida's death row in 1977. He is a published poet and is writing a book based on his life story.
Ron Keine is currently the Assistant Director of Communications and Training for Witness to Innocence. Ron was one of four men convicted of the murder and kidnapping of a University of New Mexico student in 1974. He and his co-defendants were sentenced to death before an investigation by The Detroit News uncovered lies by the prosecution’s star witness, perjured identification given under police pressure, and the use of poorly administered lie detector tests. Ron was released in 1976 after the murder weapon was traced to a law enforcement officer who admitted to the killing. Most recently, Ron has been published internationally, featured in a scholarly publication of the University of Cincinnati College of Law and honored by the Texas House of Representatives.
Larry Yates serves as States Field Organizer for Witness to Innocence and is responsible for the successful operation of the WTI's nationwide program to assist state-based anti-death penalty organizations in their efforts to reform, restrict, or repeal the death penalty. Larry's social justice and anti-racist commitment began in the mid-1960s working against housing segregation in Virginia’s Washington suburbs. While at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Larry was the first national organizer of tenants in at-risk privately owned assisted housing, and an early user of e-mail for organizing. He also served as the Grassroots Organizing Mentor at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, as founding Executive Director of the Virginia Housing Coalition, and most recently as Shenandoah Valley Organizer for the Virginia Organizing Project. Larry’s writing on race and related issues includes a chapter on the history of housing organizing in A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda; his response to David Horowitz's attacks on reparations for slavery appears in The Debtors, and a chapter in Accountability and White Anti-Racist Organizing: Stories From Our Work. Larry belongs to the National Writers Union, the NAACP, and the National Organizers Alliance. He lives in Winchester, Virginia.
Hooman Hedayati serves as Texas Field Organizer and Online Organizer for Witness to Innocence. He was born and raised in Iran. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a double-major in Government and Middle Eastern Studies. As a student he founded Students Against the Death Penalty and served as an advisory board member for Campus Progress at the Center for American Progress. He has also served on the board of directors of the Texas Moratorium Network. Before coming to Witness to Innocence, Hooman worked as a campus organizer for the StudentPIRGs and as a union organizer for Service Employees International Union.
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Freddie Lee Pitts was convicted of murdering two white men and sentenced to 
Randy Steidl spent 17 years in 
Nancy Vollertsen is the sister of Greg Wilhoit, who spent six years on 
Marshall Dayan is a nationally renowned capital defense attorney who has been instrumental in the movement to abolish the death penalty for more than 20 years. He has represented numerous death row prisoners and has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. 
Gary Drinkard survived almost eight years in prison in Alabama, five of which were spent on death row for a crime he did not commit. Gary is now a member of the Witness to Innocence Speakers Bureau and member of the Witness to Innocence Board of Directors.
Shujaa Graham spent five years on 
Phyllis Prentice is the wife of exonerated ex-death row prisoner Shujaa Graham. She is deeply engaged in the criminal justice reform movement and has an extensive background as an activist on numerous social justice issues. A nurse by profession, she lives in 
Andrew Ruggles has a Masters of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He has had a fellowship with the Interfaith Alliance in Washington D.C., a national organization that promotes a healthy relationship between church and state in the United States through lobbying and public education. He also was also involved with the start up of the healthy homes initiative of the Neighborhood Interfaith Movement of Philadelphia, an organization that promotes cooperative efforts for service among houses of worship in Northwest Philadelphia.
Kathy Spillman coordinates all facets of Witness to Innocence's national Speakers Bureau. Kathy has more than 20 years of experience in program development and management for non-profits and higher education institutions, and has won awards for her outreach programs to diverse constituencies, including K-12 students and educators, the U.S. military, community colleges, and the interfaith and arts communities. She has also served as a trainer and consultant for human rights, environmental, and youth advocacy organizations in Macedonia, Ukraine, Armenia, and the Czech Republic (where she was a Fulbright Scholar in 2003), and has taught human rights and civics to middle and high school students in Romania and Poland. She served as the Senior Academic Resource Specialist for the the Close Up Foundation, the nation's largest non-profit, non-partisan civic education organization, where she organized hundreds of seminars and workshops on domestic and foreign policy for high school students, teachers, and senior citizens from around the United States, and was Associate Director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania. She also served as a consultant on public and K-12 education programming for Penn's Graduate School of Education, Camden County College, and the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. Kathy has an MA in International Relations and Arabic from Georgetown University and has traveled to more than 20 extraordinary countries, but thinks Philadelphia is the best city in the world.
Ray Krone is the Director of Communications and Training for Witness to Innocence. Before his exoneration in 2002, Ray spent more than 10 years in Arizona prisons, including nearly three years on death row, for a murder he did not commit. Since then he has spoken throughout the United States and Europe, and has appeared before hundreds of groups, state legislatures and other governmental bodies. He has been featured in People and Parade magazines, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, Goog Morning America and more.
A former Master's student at the Chicago Theology Seminary, Delbert Tibbs was on a self-described spiritual journey, walking across the country, when he was arrested for a rape and murder he did not committ. The witness changed her description of the killer after seeing Polaroid pictures of Delbert, and came close to acknowledging that the actual killer was her ex-boyfriend in court before the judge called a recess. An all-white jury returned a guilty verdict and death sentence in less than two days. With tremendous outside support, Delbert accessed better legal representation and was exonerated from Florida's death row in 1977. He is a published poet and is writing a book based on his life story.
Ron Keine is currently the Assistant Director of Communications and Training for Witness to Innocence. Ron was one of four men convicted of the murder and kidnapping of a 
Larry Yates serves as States Field Organizer for Witness to Innocence and is responsible for the successful operation of the WTI's nationwide program to assist state-based anti-death penalty organizations in their efforts to reform, restrict, or repeal the death penalty. Larry's social justice and anti-racist commitment began in the mid-1960s working against housing segregation in Virginia’s Washington suburbs. While at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Larry was the first national organizer of tenants in at-risk privately owned assisted housing, and an early user of e-mail for organizing. He also served as the Grassroots Organizing Mentor at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, as founding Executive Director of the Virginia Housing Coalition, and most recently as Shenandoah Valley Organizer for the Virginia Organizing Project. Larry’s writing on race and related issues includes a chapter on the history of housing organizing in A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda; his response to David Horowitz's attacks on reparations for slavery appears in The Debtors, and a chapter in Accountability and White Anti-Racist Organizing: Stories From Our Work. Larry belongs to the National Writers Union, the NAACP, and the National Organizers Alliance. He lives in Winchester, Virginia.
Hooman Hedayati serves as Texas Field Organizer and Online Organizer for Witness to Innocence. He was born and raised in Iran.