JAMES WALLER

The Crime: Two brothers, aged 12 and 7, awoke one morning in November 1982 to find a male in their Texas home, wearing a cowboy hat and bandana over half of his face. The man sexually assaulted the 12-year-old boy. Later that day, the victim thought he heard the voice of the assailant, and when he turned around, saw Waller, who lived in his apartment building. Waller was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse and sentenced to 30 years.

The Exoneration: In 2006, 23 years after his conviction, some of the DNA from a rape kit that had never been tested was found not to belong to Waller. A judge vacated his conviction and Gov. Rick Perry officially pardoned him on March 9, 2007. He was the 200th person the Innocence Project exonerated. "I want to get married again," he told CNN. "I want a wife and I want a baby and I'll probably will name her Grace... If I have a boy, I may name him Mercy."