CIP
What are Innocence Projects?
There are flaws in the U.S. justice system that have resulted in over 1,000 wrongful convictions. The response to this problem has been the creation of innocence projects throughout the country to investigate and litigate claims of wrongful conviction. There are 48 innocence projects located throughout the United States that are affiliated through the Innocence Network. The Innocence Network also includes international organizations in Australia, Canada, and Europe.
The Work of the California Innocence Project
A person who is wrongfully accused often lacks the resources needed to prove their innocence. Our mission is to provide much needed resources and free those who have been wrongfully convicted in Southern California. Located in San Diego, California at California Western School of Law, the Project is also a clinical program where law students work on cases with the staff and learn valuable lawyering skills. We will also collaborate with other organizations to advocate for reforms to the criminal justice system to help prevent future wrongful convictions.
CIP’s successful exonerations have involved causes of wrongful conviction such as mistaken eyewitness identification, false witness testimony, unreliable forensic evidence, shaken baby syndrome, and ineffective assistance of counsel. We are also investigating cases involving post-conviction DNA testing, fire investigation, ballistics, false confessions, prosecutorial or police misconduct, bite mark evidence, fingerprinting, and firearms analysis. Our investigations focus on finding evidence of factual innocence and can include re-interviewing witnesses, reviewing trial transcripts, consulting with forensic experts, and examining evidence located at court houses or law enforcement agencies.
Our successful cases include three exonerees who each spent over 20 years in prison for a crime they did not commit. The Project also assists our clients with life after exoneration and has filed state compensation claims on their behalf.
In April 2013, CIP is sponsoring an Innocence March from San Diego, CA to the state capitol in Sacramento, CA. Staff, students, exonerees, and family members of exonerees, and supporters are joining in the march to raise awareness of the wrongful conviction cases we are working on. At the end of the march, walkers will deliver petitions to the California state Governor asking for executive clemency for our innocent clients who remain incarcerated in prison. The march will include support rallies at different locations along the route. For more information on the march, go to www.innocencemarch.com.
The Project is also working internationally and is a major partner in Red Inocente, an initiative to help attorneys and agencies in Latin America set up innocence projects. Our recent work in Latin America helped lead to the 2012 release of Jason Puracal, an American wrongfully imprisoned in Nicaragua.
Assistance We Provide
We accept post-conviction claims of actual innocence from convictions that occurred in the following Southern California counties: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. To have their case reviewed by CIP, the inmate must first submit a completed questionnaire. We only take cases where new, strong evidence of factual innocence exists. Cases can involve DNA or non-DNA evidence (or both). We provide our services to inmates free of charge (pro bono). To learn more about submitting a claim of innocence or to get a questionnaire (in English or Spanish), click here.
