Charges Against Michael Keenan, Who Spent Over Two Decades On Death Row, DISMISSED

Michael Keenan, who spent 24 years in an Ohio prison – almost all of it on death row - was freed earlier today, the charges against him dismissed.

Keenan was convicted, along with Joe D’Ambrosio, of the 1988 murder of Tony Klann. Both Keenan and D’Ambrosio both professed their innocence from day one.

D'Ambrosio was exonerated nine months ago after courts determined that prosecutors had withheld critical evidence.

That evidence included police statements that concluded Klann could not have been killed at the location that prosecutors' only eyewitness claimed. It also included information that the man who lead police to Keenan and D'Ambrosio had a possible motive for killing Klann.

Kevin Werner, Executive Director of Ohioan s to Stop Executions said, “Ohio’s track record of making these kinds of mistakes is both troubling and a sharp reminder that our state routinely sends people to death row for crimes they did commit.”

And Ohio is not alone. Nationwide we have seen innocent people walk off of death row time after time, sometimes having come within days or even hours from execution. How much more proof do we need that the system is broken? How many more innocent lives will we put at risk before we finally end the death penalty once and for all?

Find out more about the Michael Keenan case or more about exonoree Joe D'Ambrosio