• In death-penalty cases, actual innocence is an exception to the cause-and-prejudice rule, and can result in a successful challenge to the death sentence on the basis of a defense that was not presented to the trial court. The prisoner must show by clear and convincing evidence that, but for constitutional error in the trial court, no reasonable judge or juror would find the defendant eligible for the death penalty. See Sawyer v. Whitley, 505 U.S. 333, 112 S.Ct. 2514 (1992). Cf. CAUSE-AND-PREJUDICE RULE. [Cases: Habeas Corpus 401, 462.]
actual innocence
Criminal law. The absence of facts that are prerequisites for the sentence given to a defendant.
