Ralph "Ron" Wright
State: Florida
Convicted: August 2014
Exonerated: May 11, 2017
Race: Black
DNA used in exoneration? No
Reasons for wrongful conviction:
Insufficient evidence
Official misconduct
Ron's Wrongful Conviction
Ralph “Ron” Wright Jr. was an Air Force Sergeant and Orange County Deputy Sheriff who spent three years wrongfully incarcerated. Ron was accused of the murder of a woman and her young son in 2007.
There was no forensic evidence, weapon, cell records, or any testimony incriminating Ron. The prosecution’s key piece of evidence was a black glove of the same kind issued to Ron's military unit; however, analysts were uncertain if it came from Ron's military base. DNA tests on the glove run by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement showed no definitive match for Ron, and independent analyses by labs hired by both the defense and prosecution excluded Ron. In August 2017, he was convicted solely on the basis of potential motive and opportunity; a jury voted 7-5 to recommend the death penalty. The Florida Supreme Court has since declared death sentences based upon non-unanimous jury recommendations to be unconstitutional.
In May 2017, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that all evidence was “purely circumstantial” and there was no evidence to prove Ron was the murderer. He was acquitted of the murder charges and became the 27th person to be exonerated from death row in Florida.
Ron's Work Today
Ron now lives in Florida, and along with many other Florida exonerees fights for death penalty abolition.
In The Media:
5.11.17 Supreme Court orders Ralph Wright Jr. to be acquitted of 2007 St. Pete killings
7.19.17 Ralph Wright Jr. becomes twenty-seventh death row prisoner in Florida to be exonerated
5.1.19 Emotional Moment in the State Capitol
10.21.19 Exonerated from Death Row, men will ask Gov. DeSantis to cancel scheduled execution
10.22.19 Death row exonerees deliver letter to governor's office to block execution of Vietnam vet
10.22.19 Death row exonerees ask DeSantis to spare James Dailey's life
10.22.19 Death row exonerees ask governor to spare James Dailey
10.22.19 Group pushing Gov. DeSantis to keep veteran off death row
10.23.19 Lograron salir del corredor de la muerte. Ahora abogan por condenado a la pena capital en Florida
10.23.19 Sunrise Podcast
10.23.19 Survivors of Florida's Death Row Deliver Message to DeSantis: 'Don’t Kill James Dailey'
10.23.19 Death row exonerees ask DeSantis to halt execution
10.22.19 Ex-inmate hopes awareness will defeat capital punishment
2.10.22 Ron Wright Interview on Black News Channel's 'Making the Case'