WCPO: He was 90 minutes away from death when he got another chance at life
Ohio Innocence Project lawyer says there have been 58 executions and 11 exonerations from death row
Derrick Jamison is back in Cincinnati and working to abolish the death penalty in Ohio.
He served 20 years in prison, survived six death warrants and once came within 90 minutes of execution. Jamison is free now, but was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985 for the murder of a Cincinnati bartender.
His conviction hinged on the testimony of a co-defendant who avoided the death penalty by falsely implicating Jamison. Other evidence that would have contradicted that testimony was withheld during Jamison’s trial. In 2000, a federal district court judge overturned Jamison’s conviction and five years later charges against him were dismissed.
Jamison shared his story with WCPO-TV Channel 9.
Pierce Reed, director of policy and engagement for the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati, also spoke with WCPO-TV. He did not work on Jamison’s case, but he knew his story and welcomed him during an Ohio Innocence Tour that visited UC Law last fall and sites across the state.
Reed told WCPO-TV that 104 people have been exonerated in Ohio since 1989. Less than a dozen of those exonerations were from people sitting on death row.
"The best estimates nationally are that between 2-5% of people on death row are innocent, but we know in Ohio that since 1976 there have been 58 executions ... There have also been 11 exonerations from Ohio’s death row, so that’s well beyond that 2-5%. It’s really closer to be 15 or 16%,” Reed said.
Learn more about Derrick Jamison’s case.
View the WCPO-TV segment.
Learn more about the Ohio Innocence Project.
Featured top image: A scene from the Ohio Innocence Tour's visit to UC Law in October 2022 featuring death row exonerees Ray Krone, Derrick Jamison and Kwame Ajamu.
Related Stories
UC’s Ohio Innocence Project helps earn freedom for Cleveland man after more than 14 years in prison
May 4, 2021
UC's Ohio Innocence Project helped earn the freedom of Michael Sutton, one of two Cleveland men convicted in 2006 of the shooting of two people and the attempted shooting of a Cleveland police officer when both suspects were 17 years old.
Three Cincinnati Law faculty honored with University awards
April 16, 2021
Three University of Cincinnati College of Law faculty members are being honored with university awards.
WVXU: OKI Wanna Know why does Kentucky own the Ohio River?
April 22, 2021
UC Law's Professor Brad Mank answers questions from OKI Wanna Know about the border between Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana and what the Supreme Court says about it.