Cooley Law School Innocence Project's Statewide Wrongful Conviction Project

The Thomas Cooley Law School Innocence Projects (CIP) Statewide Wrongful Conviction Project has been a leading expert in forensic case review. With the creation of the Wayne County Conviction Integrity and the Michigan Attorney General Conviction Integrity Unit, the way innocence claims are handled has changed drastically. Since the inception of these units, CIP has been a collaborative partner by assisting with case screening and representation in promising cases. CIP assists clients to make informed decisions about working with a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) and protects the clients rights. CIP’s Statewide Wrongful Conviction Project will allow CIP to continue its current CIU partnerships and develop new partnerships with other organizations and provide all Michigan prisoners with access to forensic case review. In addition to the existing partnerships, CIP will expand its collaboration on cases with other organizations in the state, including the State Appellate Defender Office and other county based CIUs. Funding will allow the CIP to continue to review and investigate innocence claims involving unreliable forensic practices uniformly and efficiently for all of Michigan’s in 83 counties. CIP will review 200 cases under this proposal. Funding will also allow CIP to expand its community education and outreach efforts to inform and educate those throughout the state on the issue of wrongful convictions, with a focus towards underserved and historically disadvantaged areas. community education and outreach programming in these areas will lead to others working intentionally to combat wrongful convictions, especially those areas disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and victimization. This project will benefit the states CIUs, other organizations, underserved communities, and defendants whose claim of innocence involves forensic issues. It will benefit Michigan’s criminal justice system as a whole.