544 people have been executed by the State of Texas since 1982.
On average, 1 person is executed every three weeks.
Just before their execution, inmates are allowed by law to say any last words. These statements are recorded and included in the public domain.
49 inmates have explicitly expressed their innocence in their last words.
This figure does not necessarily capture all of those who are potentially innocent, just those who made claims as part of their last words.
The pace of executions peaked in the 2000s at a rate of one execution every two weeks for the entire decade.
The 2000s also had the largest number of inmate who made implicit and explicit claims for their innocence.
Most inmates are executed in their 30s. The youngest executed during this time period was 25 years old, the oldest was 67.
On average, older inmates made more claims to innocence.
The overwhelming majority of those executed were male, with only 6 of the 544 identifying as female.
No female inmates made implicit or explicit claims of innocence.
Of the 80% of inmates who chose to make a final statement, most lasted under 1 minute.
The longest statement was just over 12 minutes.
As statement length increased, it was more likely an explicit claim for innocence was made.
With the end of life minutes away and with no strategic use for doing so, 70 inmates used their last words to express their innocence.
Are these men innocent?
Organizations like the innocence project are committed to provided legal support to incarcerated individuals (on and off Death Row) to investigate their claims of innocence.
Use the menus at right to explore the data for yourself.
