Requiem for Frank Lee Smith
In December 2000, after spending fourteen years on Florida�s Death Row, Frank Lee Smith was finally cleared of the rape and murder of eight-year-old Shandra Whitehead. Like nearly 100 prisoners before him, Smith�s belated exoneration came as a result of sophisticated DNA testing that was unavailable when he was first convicted. But for Frank Lee Smith, the good news came too late: Ten months before he was proven innocent, Smith died of cancer in his jail cell, just steps away from Florida�s electric chair. How did Frank Lee Smith end up on Death Row for a crime he didn�t commit? And why was he allowed to die there despite possible evidence of his innocence?
