(eg.ZAWN.uh.ree)
n.
A person who has been exonerated.
Example Citation:
Dennis Maher was 23 in 1984, when he was sent to jail for crimes he didn't commit.
When he came out, he'd lost his 20s and 30s, most of his old friends and his place in the world.
"I did 19 years, two months and 21 days," said the 42-year-old former U.S. Army sergeant, who was convicted of rape, aggravated rape and attempted rape on the basis of false identification.
He is now the latest prisoner — the 127th nation-wide — to be exonerated and released from jail after the Innocence Project used DNA evidence to prove his innocence.
This weekend, he and more than 30 other exonerees from around the country will arrive in New York to share their experiences and see the play "The Exonerated," based on stories like their own.
— Sarah Gilbert, "Exonerated now free to play," The new York Post, May 9, 2003
Earliest Citation:
Much as we expected, Judge Malcolm Wilkey, the special counsel in the House Bank investigation, says he'll issue a list of Members he deems worthy of exoneration just as the election enters the home stretch — in late August. This procedure is perfectly designed so that those who aren't on the list will almost certainly be suspected by the public of being wrongdoers and will be pummeled by their challengers. Will the non-exonerees be given their day in court before the Nov. 3 election?
— "Pulling a Wilkey?," Roll Call, July 27, 1992
Categories:
New words. 2013.