The dramatic story of Bloodworth’s 20-year journey is chronicled in a book by Tim Junkin, Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA.
The highly acclaimed work recounts Bloodsworth’s life from his 1984 arrest and trial to his 1993 exoneration, and finally to the 2004 identification of the true perpetrator of the rape and murder for which Bloodsworth was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
Kirk Bloodsworth is the first person sentenced to death row to be exonerated by DNA evidence. Kirk’s struggle serves as a powerful illustration of the systemic failures within the criminal justice system that can — and do — lead to wrongful convictions of innocent defendants.
More information is available in Protecting the Innocent: Opportunities for Reform, a document prepared by The Justice Project on ways that progress can be made in addressing the systemic problems that played a large part in Kirk’s wrongful conviction.
In June of 1993, Kirk Bloodsworth’s case became the first capital conviction in the United States to be overturned as a result of DNA testing. On July 25, 1984, a nine-year-old girl was found dead in a wooded area. She had been beaten with a rock, sexually assaulted, and strangled. An honorably discharged former Marine and Maryland resident, Bloodsworth was convicted of sexual assault, rape, and first-degree premeditated murder. He was convicted and sentenced to death on March 8, 1985. The ruling was appealed a year later on the grounds that evidence was withheld at trial, and Bloodsworth received a new trial. He was found guilty again and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
After years of fighting for a DNA test, evidence from the crime scene was sent to a lab for testing. Final reports from state and federal labs concluded that Bloodsworth’s DNA did not match any of the evidence received for testing. On June 28, 1993, a Baltimore County circuit judge ordered Bloodsworth released from prison due to the results of his DNA test, and in December 1993, Maryland’s governor pardoned Bloodsworth.
By the time of his release, Bloodsworth served almost nine years in prison, including two on death row for a crime he did not commit. Read More »
Duquesne University Forensic Science and Law Workshop
July 29
Kirk Bloodsworth is available to speak to groups with an interest in criminal justice reform including legal professionals and organizations, legislators, students, and stakeholders in the criminal justice system.
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