Innocence Project

Law Enforcement

Kalvin Michael Smith sentenced to prison following charges of electronic monitor tampering

4:48pm January 13, 2023

A man who claimed innocence in connection with a 1995 brutal assault in Winston-Salem pled guilty Thursday to interfering with an electronic monitoring device.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended this month that Julius Jones' death sentence be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Okla. governor grants clemency to Julius Jones hours before he was set to be executed

4:12pm November 18, 2021

by Jaclyn Diaz

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted the death sentence of Julius Jones after a public outcry. Jones, who maintains he was wrongly convicted of a 1999 murder, now faces life in prison without parole.

Crime

Crash Kills Man Who Was Exonerated In High-Profile Rape Case

5:17pm March 15, 2015

A Winston-Salem man who was exonerated after spending more than a decade in prison for rape has died in a traffic accident.

Joseph Sledge, 70, addresses members of the media after being released from jail in Columbus County, N.C., on Friday. He served nearly four decades behind bars for two slayings he didn't commit.

National

DNA Exonerates Man Who Served Nearly 40 Years For Murder

6:32pm January 23, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Joseph Sledge, now 70, spent 37 years in prison for a crime that a three-judge panel said Friday he did not commit.