Wrongful Conviction National Training and Technical Assistance Project

The purpose of the Wrongful Conviction Review Program is to provide high quality and efficient representation for potentially wrongfully convicted defendants in post-conviction claims of innocence. This program is funded under the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act,Pub. L. No. 112-10, div. B, secs. 1101-1104; Pub. L. No. 111-117, 123 Stat. 3034, 3134. Post-conviction innocence claims are likely to include complex challenges to the reliability or accuracy of evidence presented at trial which fall mainly into three categories: 1) eyewitness identification evidence; 2) confession evidence; and 3) forensic evidence. The goals of this initiative are to: provide quality representation to those who may have been wrongfully convicted; alleviate burdens placed on the criminal justice system through costly and prolonged post-conviction litigation; and identify, whenever possible, the actual perpetrator of the crime.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NADCL) will provide national training and technical assistance on post-conviction claims of innocence issues to BJA grant recipients, and to other innocence projects and defender offices through an online web portal and direct access to NACDL's Resource Counsel. NADCL will develop an online tool kit to explain the training and technical assistance, and how to access these resources. The NADCL will also provide an in-depth assessment of FY 2010 Wrongful Conviction grant recipients.

NCA/NCF