( CNN ) -- What does the United States have in common with Iran , Iraq and Saudi Arabia ? Answer : the death penalty . Together , the four nations killed 82 % of the world 's confirmed executions that year , according to Amnesty International . The world 's most populous nation , China , wo n't release its execution stats . State-sanctioned killing is a divisive issue for many reasons , not the least of which is an imperfect justice system . At the latest count , 1,369 people have been executed in the U.S. since 1976 and 144 people on death row have been exonerated , according to the Death Penalty Information Center . New York Law School Professor Robert Blecker writes , society kills some of its criminals intentionally `` because they deserve it . '' This is a topic worth discussing . That 's why we hosted a CNN Google Hangout video conversation about this issue with CNN 's Ashleigh Banfield and top legal experts . One of the most amazing death row stories we talked about during Wednesday 's hangout surrounded a South Carolina man named Edward Lee Elmore . He was in line to be another death row statistic , although his lawyers say evidence pointed to his possible innocence . In fact , two federal judges wrote in an appellate court opinion that there was `` persuasive evidence '' that South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents in the case were `` dishonest . '' The judges also wrote that the case bore further evidence of `` police ineptitude and deceit . '' When he was 23 , Elmore -- a mentally disabled African-American handyman -- was arrested in the 1982 rape and murder of an elderly white widow in Greenwood , South Carolina . Elmore had never been convicted before . He insisted all along he was innocent . After an eight-day trial , it took jurors mere hours to find Elmore guilty and deliver a death sentence . During the appeal process , Elmore sat on death row for years , wondering when his time would run out . It looked bleak for him until a group of lawyers took a very close look at the case . Elmore 's lawyers said it looked like evidence was planted that made Elmore look guilty . They also said it looked like evidence was hidden that could have helped Elmore . In 2011 , a federal appellate court vacated Elmore 's conviction , saying his trial lawyer provided constitutionally ineffective assistance . Read the court 's opinion . The next year , instead of waiting for the results of a new trial , Elmore took a prosecutor 's offer to plead guilty , while being allowed -- as a judge put it -- to `` maintain his innocence . '' That 's right . Elmore pleaded guilty to regain his freedom . At 53 , he would never get back the 30 years he spent in prison . New York Times investigative journalist Raymond Bonner wrote that Elmore 's case `` raises nearly all the issues that shape debate about capital punishment : race , mental retardation , a jailhouse informant , DNA testing , bad defense lawyers , prosecutorial misconduct and a strong claim of innocence . '' All of the facts will be laid out at 9 p.m. ET/PT Sunday during the premiere of CNN 's Original Series , `` Death Row Stories . '' Top legal experts in our hangout included John H. Blume , one of Elmore 's lawyers . Hangout participants sent their questions to Blume as well as death row legal expert Robert Blecker and series Executive Producers Alex Gibney and Brad Hebert . Note : An earlier version of this article referred to an editorial that reported a miscalculated percentage of death row exonerations .
Watch a frank discussion with CNN about the death penalty at our Google Hangout . CNN 's Ashleigh Banfield led the discussion with death row documentary producers . The debate also included death row legal experts John H. Blume and Robert Blecker .