Since 1995, six North Carolina prisoners have been exonerated because of DNA evidence. Others have been freed because of faulty eyewitness identifications, coerced confessions or inaccurate science.

Since Mumma started working to correct wrongful convictions in 2001, she has helped change the law to prevent such errors.

1995: Ronald Cotton, convicted of a rape in Burlington, is exonerated by DNA evidence.

1997: Keith Brown, imprisoned for four years for a sexual assault in Wilson, is exonerated on DNA evidence.

The state raises compensation for exonerated prisoners from $500 to $10,000 per year served.

1999: Charles Munsey, on death row for a Wilkes County murder, is granted a new trial after another man confesses to the crime. Munsey dies before the new trial.

2000: N.C. Center on Actual Innocence is created.

2001: Lesly Jean, in prison for nine years for a rape in Jacksonville, is exonerated on DNA evidence.

The state raises compensation for exonerated prisoners to $20,000 per year served with a limit of $500,000.

2002: The Chief Justice's Criminal Justice Study Commission is formed to study wrongful convictions.

Terence Garner, imprisoned for four years for a Johnston County robbery and shooting, is cleared by the court on retrial. He was originally convicted despite multiple alibi witnesses and a co-defendant's testimony that he wasn't involved.

2003: Leo Waters is exonerated by DNA after spending 21 years in prison for a rape and robbery in Jacksonville.

2004: Darryl Hunt, who spent almost 19 years in prison for rape and murder, is exonerated after DNA evidence clears him and identifies the real killer.

Alan Gell is acquitted on retrial in a Bertie County murder. The prosecutors in the original trial withheld exculpatory evidence.

Gell's original case spurs the creation of an open-file discovery law. The new law forces prosecutors to share their entire file with defendants before trial, eliminating the chance a prosecutor could withhold evidence.

2006: Three Duke University lacrosse players are wrongfully accused of rape and sexual assault.

North Carolina becomes the first state to establish an Innocence Inquiry Commission, which provides a new process to investigate and exonerate the wrongfully convicted.

2007: Dwayne Dail, who spent nearly 19 years in prison for rape, is exonerated because of DNA evidence.

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong is disbarred for withholding exculpatory evidence in the Duke case. The three suspects are proclaimed innocent.

State establishes new laws governing police lineups, the preservation of evidence and requiring interrogations of murder suspects to be recorded.

2008: Mumma plans to address more factors in wrongful convictions, including the use of criminal informants.

She hopes to improve standards for the storage of crime scene evidence and also increase the state's compensation for exonerated prisoners to the federal maximum of $50,000 per year served.

(N.C. INNOCENCE INQUIRY COMMISSION; THE INNOCENCE PROJECT (CARDOZO LAW SCHOOL, NEW YORK); INTERVIEWS, NEWS ARTICLES)