A record number of defendants were exonerated of crimes in 2014, according to The National Registry of Exonerations' annual report released Tuesday. Last year saw 125 exonerations, the most since 1989, when the registry — a project of the University of Michigan Law School — began tallying the number of people cleared of crimes for which they were wrongfully convicted.

Tierney Sneed for USN&WR; Source: National Registry of Exonerations

Texas had the most exonerations last year, with 39, followed by New York with 17 and Illinois and Michigan with seven each. Additionally, there were eight federal exonerations last year.

The most common crime for which people were exonerated in 2014 was homicide.

Tierney Sneed for USN&WR; Source: National Registry of Exonerations

With six death row inmates exonerated in 2014, last year saw the highest number of exonerations in capital cases since 2009.

Tierney Sneed for USN&WR; Source: National Registry of Exonerations

The report credits the increase in exonerations in part to the rise of conviction integrity units, law enforcement operations that seek to identify and correct false convictions, with three units in particular — the Dallas County district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, the Brooklyn district attorney’s Conviction Review Unit, and the Harris County district attorney’s Post Conviction Review Section — leading the charge.

The National Registry of Exonerations

National Registry of Exonerations

The full registry of exonerations is available here.





