Black men are most exonerated, and mostly commit nonviolent offenses.
Michigan State University (data compiled by over 20 universities:
I. Murder
• Judging from exonerations, innocent black people are about seven times more likely to be convicted of murder than innocent white people. A major cause of the high number of black murder exonerations is the high homicide rate in the black community—a tragedy that kills many African Americans and sends many others to prison. Innocent defendants who are falsely convicted and exonerated do not contribute to this high homicide rate. They— like the families of victims who are killed—are deeply harmed by murders committed by others.
II. sexµal Assault
• Judging from exonerations, a black prisoner serving time for sexµal assault is three- and-a-half times more likely to be innocent than a white sexµal assault convict. The major cause for this huge racial disparity appears to be the high danger of mistaken eyewitness identification by white victims in violent crimes with black assailants.
III. Drug Crimes
• The best national evidence on drug use shows that African Americans and whites use illegal drugs at about the same rate. Nonetheless, African Americans are about five times as likely to go to prison for drug possession as whites—and judging from exonerations, innocent black people are about 12 times more likely to be convicted of drug crimes than innocent white people.
“Since 1989, more than 1,800 defendants have been cleared in “group exonerations” that followed 15 large-scale police scandals in which officers systematically framed innocent defendants. The great majority were African-American defendants who were framed for drug crimes that never occurred. There are almost certainly many more such cases that remain hidden. pp. 21-25
[…]
"innocent black people are about 12 times more likely to be convicted of drug crimes than innocent white people. pp.16-17.
[…]
African Americans are more frequently stopped, searched, arrested, and convicted—including in cases in which they are innocent. The extreme form of this practice is systematic racial profiling in drug-law enforcement. pp. 20-21"
[…]
African-American prisoners who are convicted of murder are about 50% more likely to be innocent than other convicted murderers. Part of that disparity is tied to the race of the victim. African Americans imprisoned for murder are more likely to be innocent if they were convicted of killing white victims. Only about 15% of murders by African Americans have white victims, but 31% of innocent African-American murder exonerates were convicted of killing white people."
www.law.umich.edu
(Michigan State University, 2023)
Report: Blacks Made up 61% of 2023 Exonerees | The Michigan Chronicle
"Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community University of Minnesota:
Black Men Are the Most Abused Group in Intimate Relationships."
http://www.ncdsv.org/images/IDVAAC_IPVintheAfricanAmericanCommunity.pdf