In Sweden, individuals who claim they have been wrongfully convicted can apply for post-conviction review. However, researchers have argued that the path towards exoneration is filled with barriers that some may overcome, while others do not, regardless of the actual merits of the wrongful conviction claim. In this study, I explore the tension between the intuitively reasonable tendency of applicants to blame the criminal justice system for causing the wrongful conviction and the potential limitations in the structure and application of the post-conviction review remedy regarding the accountability of the justice system itself. This is achieved by means of a case study focused on a decade-long struggle that resulted in an individual (NN) being exonerated after serving 13 years of his lifetime imprisonment sentence. NN claimed that he had been wrongly convicted of murder due to failings and errors within the justice system, but was eventually exonerated on grounds that had nothing to do with the criminal justice process or the actions of the legal actors involved. I also discuss the support NN received from lawyers and journalists, something that few other applicants have access to, which enabled him to present the type of evidence that resulted in his exoneration.