LAWRENCE, KS – Herman Lindsey, a death row exoneree, spoke at the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty’s annual meeting on Nov. 16, 2024, at the University of Kansas. Exonerated in 2009, Lindsey now travels nationwide advocating for the abolition of the death penalty.
Lindsey shared his experience of wrongful conviction, emphasizing how coercion and false testimonies led to his death sentence. Two witnesses, including his ex-wife, were threatened and promised compensation to testify against him. Another witness, Mark Simms, admitted to lying in exchange for a reduced sentence.
In 2006, Lindsey was convicted of the 1994 robbery and murder of a pawn shop owner, despite no direct evidence linking him to the crime.
Twelve years after initially being questioned, he was arrested based on circumstantial evidence, including a pawn slip dated months before the crime. Lindsey rejected a plea deal and was sentenced to death, only to be exonerated by the Florida Supreme Court in 2009 due to lack of evidence.
Now the executive director of Witness to Innocence, Lindsey collaborates with organizations like the ACLU to end capital punishment. His advocacy includes urging President Biden to commute federal death sentences.
The Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty’s meeting also discussed the ACLU’s legal challenge to Kansas’ death penalty laws. While Kansas hasn’t executed anyone since 1965, nine individuals remain on death row.
Board member Robert Sanders noted bipartisan support for abolition but expressed concern about federal policies under leaders like Donald Trump, who resumed federal executions during his presidency.
A 2023 Gallup survey revealed growing skepticism about the fairness of the death penalty, with most Americans now viewing it as unjustly applied. Lindsey concluded his speech with an emotional recount of his sentencing, emphasizing his mission to educate the public about the death penalty’s flaws.
This is my job, my obligation—to ensure people understand the consequences of this system, he said.