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Ray Krone is a man from Phoenix who, in 1992, was arrested and convicted of murdering Kim Ancona, a cocktail waitress also from Phoenix. After the guilty verdict came through, Krone's jury decided that for this ghastly deed, the death penalty was in order. All throughout the trial and during his time spent on Death Row, Krone maintained his innocence. Eventually, his first conviction was overturned, and he was sentenced to only life in prison. Years later, with proper DNA testing, it was discovered that Krone was, in fact, completely innocent. It was not until April of 2002 that he was released from prison. An "inexperienced forensics expert" had made a small mistake that cost Krone years of freedom and nearly killed him. (Kurtis 1)

Dennis Williams of Illinois was charged with rape and double murder in 1978. Armed with the fact that three hairs found in his car matched that of the victims, the jury came back with an easy guilty verdict. Williams was then also sentenced to die. Not until eight years later, upon reexamination of the evidence, was it discovered that these three hairs actually did not match the victim. In 1996, because of these DNA results, Williams was exonerated and released from Death Row.
Capital punishment has always been a topic of heated debate in this country and all around the world. Recently, however, it has come even more so into the limelight of political and moral debate. Cases such as those of Dennis Williams and Ray Krone have opened the eyes of many, whether they are for or against this form of punishment, to the fact that there are serious problems in our legal system. Politicians and citizens all across the nation are taking notice and questioning the practice of imposing death on inmates. This year, for instance, is the first since 1988, that an anti-death penalty candidate was nominated to run for the presidency. The Democratic Party changed its platform to exclude the endorsement of capital punishment. While the majority of Americans seem to support the death penalty, public opinion in support of this has been decreasing. However, most still agree that the death penalty is appropriate in certain severe cases (especially that of terrorists after September 11). High profile death penalty cases such as that of Scott Peterson, who was charged and convicted of killing his pregnant wife Laci Peterson, have brought this debate to the nation's forefront. We as a country are now debating the morality and constitutionality of

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