Arizona Wrongful Conviction Review 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 FY16 (BJA - Wrongful Conviction Review) Pub. L. No.114-113, 129 Stat 2242, 2307. 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 Arizona Justice Project will use the grant award to continue its work in identifying, investigating, and litigating Shaken Baby Syndrome and arson wrongful convictions. The grantee will also represent clients whose convictions may be based on other types of evidence such as eyewitness misidentification or unvalidated forensic sciences. The award will support a staff attorney, contract attorneys, case managers, and expert costs.

CA/NCF