Delbert Lee Tibbs (June 19, 1939 – November 23, 2013) was an American man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and rape in 1974 in Florida and sentenced to death.

Tibbs was born June 19, 1939, in Shelby, Mississippi; he moved with his family to Chicago at age 12, as part of the Great Migration from the South to the North.

She reported that they had been picked up while hitchhiking by a black man who fatally shot her boyfriend, and then beat and raped her, leaving her unconscious by the side of the road.

During the trial, the prosecution supplemented the victim's identification with testimony from a jailhouse informant, who claimed Tibbs had confessed to the crime.

On appeal, the Florida Supreme Court remanded the case and reversed the decision, on the grounds that there was "considerable doubt that Delbert Tibbs is the man who committed the crimes."

He also sought changes in the criminal justice system, especially limits on the use of eyewitness identifications which numerous studies have shown to be unreliable and highly flawed.

[9][10] Tibbs began writing poetry and published Selected Poems and Other Words/Works (2007), edited by O'Modele Jeanette Rouselle.

In November 1976, Pete Seeger wrote and recorded the anti-death penalty song "Delbert Tibbs".

The playwrights recount how each person was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, in addition to exploring their exoneration after varying years of imprisonment.