5 Women Who Were Wrongfully Incarcerated

The Unique Challenges of Women’s Wrongful Convictions

In honor of Women’s History Month, we are shedding light on women who have been wrongfully incarcerated. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, roughly 300 women in the United States have been exonerated since 1989 after being convicted of crimes they did not commit.  And many more are still fighting to clear their names.

Women’s wrongful convictions often involve different factors than men’s cases. Around 73% of female exonerees were convicted of a crimes that later turned out to be accidents or incidents that never occurred at all. Additionally, about 28% of women who were exonerated were wrongfully convicted of hurting a child they were caring for.

Many wrongful convictions are overturned through DNA testing. However, DNA has helped exonerate a greater percentage of men than women. One reason is that women accused of murder are more likely to be connected to the victim through family or caregiving relationships. In these situations, a woman’s DNA may naturally be present at the scene, making it more difficult to use DNA evidence to prove innocence.

Instead, women are often exonerated when previously used forensic evidence is reexamined. In fact, 37% of female exonerees were cleared after forensic evidence used in their convictions was later found to be faulty or unreliable.

These five women represent a sample of the many women who have been impacted by wrongful convictions:

1. Rosa Jimenez

Rosa Jimenez was 20 years old and pregnant when she was convicted of killing a young child she was babysitting. She was sentenced to 99 years in prison for injury to the child and an additional 75 years for felony murder. Rosa was wrongfully incarcerated for 17 years in prison, separated from her children, before her charges were dismissed.

At the time, Rosa was a young immigrant wife and mother who frequently cared for children in her community. She had a good reputation, and several of the families she worked for defended her, but their support was not enough to prevent her conviction.

Rosa was accused of forcing paper towels into the child’s throat, causing him to choke and suffer brain damage. The child tragically died in the hospital shortly afterward.

Rosa maintained that she did not put the paper towels in the child’s throat. She explained that the accident occurred while the children were playing as she prepared dinner. The child walked over to her, red in the face. When she realized he was choking, she immediately attempted to remove the object. When her efforts were unsuccessful, she ran to a neighbor for help, and 911 was called.

During questioning, Rosa struggled to defend herself due to the language barrier. The interrogator did not have a good command of the Spanish language, and Rosa could not fully understand what was being asked or said. Having grown up in Mexico where she had experienced police corruption, she was also frightened and unsure of how to navigate the situation.

Prosecutors argued that the size of the paper towels found in the child’s throat made it unlikely the child could have inserted them himself. However, years later, medical experts reevaluated the evidence. Four pediatric otolaryngologists eventually reached a consensus that the child’s death was accidental.

In August of 2023, Rosa’s charges were dismissed, and she was released from prison while suffering from end-stage kidney failure and undergoing dialysis.

Immediately upon release, Rosa visited a church. The following day, she reunited with her children. She had not touched her son since the day he was born 17 years earlier. She began rebuilding a relationship with both of her children.

Just a few days after her release, Rosa attended her daughter’s wedding and was very grateful to be part of such an important milestone after missing so many years of her family’s lives.

2. Michelle Murphy

Michelle Murphy was just 17 years old, and a mother of two, when she was convicted of murdering her 15-month-old son and sentenced to life without parole. Her conviction involved a false confession.

Following the tragic death of her son, Michelle was interrogated alone for eight hours. During the interrogation, she eventually confessed to investigators that she dreamed about holding a knife in her hand and fell on her son. She later testified that this confession was false and the result of intense pressure during questioning.

Despite her claims, the jury found her guilty of first-degree murder. The case was further influenced by incorrect testimony presented by an assistant district attorney who claimed that Michelle’s blood had been found at the scene. Michelle was sent to prison, and her daughter was given up for adoption.

Michelle was wrongfully incarcerated for 20 years, until lawyers working with the Innocence Project proved her innocence. In 2014, DNA evidence excluded Michelle as the perpetrator and revealed the presence of DNA from an unidentified male. Her conviction was overturned, proving Michelle had spent two decades in prison for a crime she did not commit.

3. Sandra Hemme

Sandra Hemme was 20 years old when she was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. Similar to Michelle Murphy’s case, she had falsely confessed to committing the crime.

Sandra’s supposed connection to the crime was based solely on her testimony, and there was no other evidence linking her to the crime.

Sandra had a history of severe mental illness with treatment involving institutionalization and electro-convulsive therapy. She experienced hallucinations and heard voices, raising serious questions about her ability to provide reliable testimony.

Years later after starting a new medication that helped stabilize her condition, Sandra asked the Innocence Project for assistance in her case. During a review of the evidence, an FBI analysis of a partial palm print from the crime scene helped eliminate her from being a suspect. Sandra’s confession was ultimately determined to be false.

After being wrongfully incarcerated for 43 years, Sandra was released, making her the female exoneree who served the longest known prison sentence in U.S. history.

4. Kristine Bunch

Kristine Bunch was 22 years old when she was convicted of arson and felony murder in the death of her young son. She received the maximum sentence of 60 years in prison. Kristine was wrongfully incarcerated for over 16 years before proving her innocence.

At the time of the incident, Kristine lived in a mobile home with her 3-year-old son. Early one morning, a fire broke out in the middle of the trailer separating Kristine from her son. She called out to her neighbor for help and tried desperately to reach her son through the bedroom window. Tragically, firefighters later discovered the child had died in the fire.

During the trial, Kristine, pregnant with her second child, was criticized by the judge, who accused her of becoming pregnant intentionally in an attempt to gain sympathy. A chemist also testified that liquid accelerant was found in the child’s bedroom, suggesting that Kristine had intentionally set the fire.

Years later, Kristine’s new legal team reexamined the evidence. They argued that testing records showed a negative sample had been changed to appear positive. Further investigation revealed that the only traces of accelerant were found in the living room where the kerosene heater was located. There was ultimately no reliable evidence that the fire had been intentionally set.

After her exoneration, Kristine worked to build a deeper relationship with her 19-year-old son whom she had previously been able to see only on weekend prison visits while wrongfully incarcerated.

5. Cassandra Black Elk

Cassandra Black Elk was 26 years old when she was convicted of felony child neglect and became wrongfully incarcerated, after the unexpected death of her newborn.

This grieving Native American mother was not given proper legal counsel. She was told that the only way she might be reunited with her two older children was to accept a plea deal and admit to harming the baby—even though she had consistently maintained that she had done nothing wrong.

Cassandra acknowledged that she drank alcohol that night and that an argument with her husband had become physical. However, she insisted that neither of them had harmed the children.

Cassandra wanted to wait for the autopsy results, believing they would prove that no child abuse had occurred. However, her defense attorney advised her to plead guilty before the autopsy was completed. She was sentenced to five years in prison.

While she was wrongfully incarcerated, Cassandra continued trying to obtain the autopsy results. Eventually, she succeeded. The findings were clear—there was no evidence of abuse or neglect. This was a case of sudden unexplained infant death.

The Great North Innocence Project later took on Cassandra’s case and argued that she had received ineffective legal counsel, particularly because she had maintained her innocence, and the autopsy results had not yet been completed at the time of her plea.

In 2023, Cassandra was fully exonerated.

How to Help the Wrongfully Incarcerated

These stories represent just a few of the many wrongfully incarcerated women whose lives have been permanently altered. Faulty forensic science, false confessions, altered evidence, mental illness, language barriers, inadequate legal representation, and systematic bias are all factors that can lead to wrongful convictions. 

Organizations dedicated to investigating wrongful convictions continue working to free wrongfully incarcerated individuals and prevent these injustices from happening in the future. To learn more, click here. 

If you or someone you know is interested in learning the law, we offer a low-cost, accessible, online Legal Assistant/Paralegal Program, as well as a correspondence-based Paralegal Certificate Program for individuals who are currently incarcerated.