Kirk Bloodsworth, a former Marine, was charged and wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of nine-year-old Dawn Hamilton. He was sentenced to death in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1985. However, in 1992, Kirk obtained court approval for DNA testing of biological evidence from the crime scene. The tests incontrovertibly established Kirk’s innocence, and he was released in June 1993. He was the first U.S. death row prisoner to be exonerated by DNA.
Now Kirk is a speaker for Witness to Innocence which is the nation’s only organization composed of, by and for exonerated death row survivors and their loved ones. These individuals are actively engaged in the struggle to end the death penalty. Through their compelling stories, they illuminate the unfairness and immorality of capital punishment – and in turn move citizens and public opinion more than any ordinary politician or activist can ever hope to do.
