I would find a story of someone who was given the death penalty and then their innocence was discovered after their death. then i would find out the name of their mom or wife or child, or other family member, and tell it from that person's point of view, not as a famous news headline but as a personal story. for instance, with just a short search on google i found there was a man executed in Texas in 2004 named Cameron Willingham who is now thought to be possibly innocent (if you search on google there are lots of these from many states, see the site i referenced for just a few). It would be pretty easy to find out some of his family's names and write something like it was some random person, kind of like (this is just an example with a name I made up-- NOT the actual name of anyone connected)
Mary knew her son was innocent, but she also knew that if evidence was not found in time to prove that, he was going to die. She pushed and worked to get the police to investigate more, but the day came, and no new evidence had been found. She wept as she knew the hour had come and gone and her son had been executed for a crime he had not committed. It didn't matter now, no amount of evidence could bring him back.
and then tie it in with the case and give the dates and location and stuff so that you can show it isn't just some story you made up. anyway, that's what i would do if i was writing something like that.