The Innocence Project (“IP”) was established in 1992 by civil rights attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, with a mission to “exonerate the innocent through post-conviction DNA testing”. The Innocence Project uses social justice, law, and science to fight for individual freedom and policy reform, according to their website. In the 16 years since IP’s inception, more than 200 people have been exonerated, and while not all of these cases were affiliated with the Innocence Project, many of them did include consultations with IP or involved affiliated attorneys.

One of the latest people to be exonerated using DNA evidence is Charles Chatman, the longest –serving prisoner exonerated to date. Chatman spent 27 years in prison after he was convicted of raping a woman who lived down the street from him in Dallas. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison with only a police line-up, sketchy blood tests, and a jury with only one black person. Chatman’s alibi, that he was at work at the time of the rape, was all but ignored. Chatman stated, when speaking with the Associated Press, that at each of his three parole hearings he was always encouraged to give his “version” of the crime and each time he refused to do so, he was also refused parole. In 2007 Chatman applied for DNA testing. When it was found that he had not committed the rape, he was exonerated. When asked about the case, Chatman stated, “I was convicted because a black man committed a crime against a white woman,” and “I was available.” Chatman is the 15th person in Dallas County to be exonerated through DNA testing.

With a current count of 15, Dallas County has had the highest number of post DNA exonerations than anywhere else in the country. When totaled, these 15 men served over 200 years in prison, not including the years they were on parole. Considering the number of cases that have been overturned in Dallas County, The Innocence Project of Texas has teamed up with the District Attorney’s office to review more than 350 cases dating back to 1970’s. Initially, The Innocence Project of Texas was rebuffed by former District Attorney Bill Hill, but the recently appointed District Attorney, Craig Watkins, has provided his full cooperation and more wrongful convictions are expected to be discovered. Craig Watkins is the first black district attorney in Texas, and has worked diligently to reform the criminal justice conviction methods and to exonerate those who have been wrongfully convicted.

According to The Innocence Project, the leading reasons for wrongful convictions include mistaken eyewitness identification testimony, lab error and junk science being used, false confessions and incriminating statements, and the use of snitches and jailhouse informants, in that order. Other reasons for wrongful convictions also include poor legal representation and over zealous prosecutors.

Here are some startling statistics, directly from The Innocence Project. For more information please visit, http://www.innocenceproject.org.

Facts on Post-Conviction DNA Exonerations
(These numbers may have recently increased, due to several new exonerations).

>> There have been 215 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States.

>> The first DNA exoneration took place in 1989. Exonerations have been won in 32 states; since 2000, there have been 152 exonerations.

>> 16 of the 215 people exonerated through DNA served time on death row.

>> The average length of time served by exonerees is 12 years. The total number of years served is approximately 2,640.

>> The average age of exonerees at the time of their wrongful convictions was 26.

>> Races of the 215 exonerees:
131 African Americans
59 Caucasians
19 Latinos
1 Asian American
5 whose race is unknown

>> Since 1989, there have been tens of thousands of cases where prime suspects were identified and pursued—until DNA testing (prior to conviction) proved that they were wrongly accused.

>> In more than 25 percent of cases in a National Institute of Justice study, suspects were excluded once DNA testing was conducted during the criminal investigation (the study, conducted in 1995, included 10,060 cases where testing was performed by FBI labs).

>> 45 percent of exonerees have been financially compensated. 22 states, the federal government, and the District of Columbia have passed laws to compensate people who were wrongfully incarcerated. Awards under these statutes vary from state to state.

>> 33 percent of cases closed by the Innocence Project were closed because of lost or missing evidence.

>> The true suspects and/or perpetrators have been identified in 82 of the DNA exoneration cases.

by Tremaya Reynolds