First DNA Exoneration from Death Row: Kirk Noble Bloodsworth FACTFigure 9: A photo of Kirk Bloodsworth who was the first person to be exonerated from Death Row thanks to DNA evidence.Figure 11: An excerpt from the newspaper article about the murder of Dawn Hamilton, showing a photo of her.Figure 13: A photograph of the day Kirk Bloodsworth was exonerated and released from prison on June 28 1993. Based on information received from the Center of Wrongful Convictions (Anon., nd): File Data Defendant: Kirk Nobel Bloodsworth Gender: Male Date of Birth: October 31, 1960 Race: Caucasian Jurisdiction: Baltimore County, Maryland Date of Crime: July 25, 1984 Age at time of crime: age 23 Date of arrest: August 7, 1984 Charge: first degree premeditated sexual assault, rape, and murder of a child Sentence: Death (first trial), life (second trial) Date of release or exoneration: June 28, 1993 Delay (arrest before release): 3,247 days Victim(s): Dawn HamiltonNo. of Victims: 1 Age of Murder Victim(s): 9 Gender of Victim(s): Female Race of Victim(s): Caucasian Relationship of Victim to Accused: None Criminal History of Defendant: None Known Factors Leading to Wrongful Conviction: Five Faulty Eyewitnesses, Junk Science, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence by Prosecution. Has an appeals court ever upheld a conviction? Yes – second conviction upheld, Bloodsworth v. State, 76 Md.App. 23 (1988). Exonerated by: Governor's pardon and DNA, which late implicated the real killer. Compensation for wrongful imprisonment: $300,000 Compensation per day of wrongful imprisonment: $92.39 A little girl, Dawn Hamilton, aged nine years old, was sexually assaulted, strangled and beaten to death with a stone on July 25, 1984. At the time...... in the middle of the newspaper ......een found guilty. Since Kirk Bloodsworth was released, he has become an activist, speaker, and supporter of Innocence. Protection Act (IPA) after its passage in February 2000. Bloodsworth is also the advocacy director of Witness to Innocence which will be the subject of a documentary involved in the appeal to revoke the death penalty in Maryland . The case of Kirk Bloodsworth is a subject of the book Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA written by Tim Junkin. Bloodsworth is also the subject of a documentary: Bloodsworth: An Innocent Man by Gregory Bayne. This case can be considered as a perfect example of the failure of the justice system due to several missteps that took place during the investigation as well as the trial and the biggest given that Kimberly Shay Ruffner was neglected as than suspicious. (Hanes, 2004).