Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2016, $250,000)
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 California Western School of Law, with its California Innocence Project, will use the grant award to investigate claims of actual innocence in non-DNA cases and litigate those claims in court. The award will improve communications with Spanish-speaking clients by supporting a staff attorney who is bilingual in Spanish and English, as well as fund investigations and expert funding for non-DNA cases.
CA/NCF