Paris "Roc" Powell is an Oklahoma death row exoneree who served 17 years as an innocent man for a crime that he did not commit. He was exonerated in 2009 and has been sharing his story as an integral member of the movement to abolish the death penalty. During his time on death row, approximately 70 men he had come to know on Oklahoma's death row were executed. Three women were also executed by the state of Oklahoma during that time. Since Mr. Powell's exoneration, more than 30 other men he had come to know have been executed by the state of Oklahoma. I met with him in Oklahoma City on January 11, 2023, on the evening before yet another man he had come to know during his time on death row was executed. He shared with me what it was like for him to sit on death row as an innocent man for so many years, all while bearing witness to so many people he had come to know then (and since his exoneration) being walked off death row to be killed by the state of Oklahoma in the death chamber.
Click on the two links below to read more about Paris Powell's story of wrongful conviction and exoneration.
https://seoklaw.com/legal-news/victory-over-justice/
https://eji.org/news/two-exonerated-and-released-from-oklahoma-death-row/