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Since its inception in 2003, the Ohio Innocence Project – a program run through the University of Cincinnati School of Law – has helped to exonerate several inmates who were convicted of crimes they didn''t commit.
The nonprofit program uses new DNA technologies and related evidence to cast doubt on criminal convictions. According to Mark Godsey, co-founder of the program, the evidence, not the authorities, should be trusted in these cases.
“It''s our goal to never accept the word of a prosecutor, judge, or trial court,” he said.
Project workers are told that inmates lie, so the program has a system of checks and balances to help ensure they don''t end up advocating for someone who is actually guilty.
“We''re not accepting these cases unless we really believe they are innocent,” said Jenny Carroll, Academic Director at the University.
When the program members come across an inmate sincerely believed to be innocent, the project will take legal action. However, the project is unable to help everyone, even those who are suspected of being truly innocent.
Funded by private donations, the program receives eight to ten letters a day seeking help. This is in part due to national attention it has garnered as a result of its successes.
Clarence Elkins, convicted of a murder and rape he didn''t commit, was exonerated last year with the program''s help. He had already served seven years. Earlier this year, Christopher Bennett was awarded a retrial in a case of aggravated vehicular homicide and is now free on a plea deal.
Police, judges, and prosecutors – whose job it is to find the criminal and bring about justice – often resist the work of the project, particularly because it undermines their own work and sheds public light on wrongful convictions.
Not all authorities see the project in this way, though. Some respect what the program is seeking to accomplish and see it as a kind of check on the criminal justice system.
“I think the program will make my office and prosecutors around the country more careful in how they look at a case. Our duty is to make sure justice is served, and we don''t want to put any innocent people in jail. It keeps us on our toes as prosecutors, and that''s good,” said John Ferraro, an Ohio county prosecutor.
The program has also received a great deal of praise from inmates and their families.
“Without the Innocence Project, innocent people are spending long times in prison. It''s very necessary for people who fall through the cracks and don''t get a fair shake in court,” said Rita Reece, whose husband is seeking exoneration after serving 25 years for rape and attempted murder.
Until the Ohio Innocence Project was started more than three years ago, Ohio was the largest state in the nation without an inmate advocacy program.