INNOCENCE INVESTIGATION AND LITIGATION PROGRAM

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 FY13 (BJA - Wrongful Conviction Review) Pub. L. No. 113-6, 127 Stat. 198, 253. 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: eyewitness identification evidence; confession evidence; and 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 Duke University Law School Innocence Program will use its FY 2013 Wrongful Conviction Grant to provide high-quality and effective legal representation to North Carolina inmates claiming factual innocence. The grantee will use the award to hire summer interns to maintain progress during the summer recess and private investigators, fund forensic testing and other expert analyses, and fund travel for training and investigations.

CA/NCF